National Atlases: Their History, Analysis, and Ways to Improvement and Standardization

Summary

Introduction to National Atlases is translated from a volume edited by K. A. Salishchev of Moscow State University and intended as a reference for compiling national and provincial atlases. The visible opening and closing sections define national atlases as large collections synthesizing physical, economic, and political geography. They describe the International Geographical Union’s establishment of a Commission on National Atlases in 1956 to assist compilation, improve quality, and promote comparability. The book comprises three chapters on history and analysis, general compilation principles and mathematical foundations, and map themes and content. The opening traces early proposals for comprehensive atlases and the accumulation of scientific information. It identifies the 1899 Atlas of Finland as the first national atlas, praises its concise presentation of national conditions, and notes uneven coverage, incomplete themes, and missing quantitative indicators. The closing discusses administrative divisions and electoral maps. It recommends selecting geographical base-map elements according to the subject and national conditions, using them for positioning, cartographic generalization, and coordination, while maintaining consistency in shared elements and related maps at the same scale. Explanatory texts should document purposes, compilation principles, indicators, classifications, and sources, with charts supplementing temporal changes and information difficult to represent cartographically. A final proposed list covers physical geography, population, economic activities, culture, and health, with some themes conditional on national circumstances.