Journal Article

National atlases: A summary

By Ena L. Yonge· 1957

Publication: Geographical Review
Volume: 47
Issue: 4
Pages: 570-578

Australia · Version 1

1960–1977

Yonge describes the Atlas of Australian Resources as Australia's first comprehensive atlas, arising from the need at the end of the Second World War to assess the country's resources and development potential. She reports that it is edited by Konrad Frenzel, will run to about 50 plates at 1:6,000,000 with separate explanatory commentaries, and that 20 plates had been received at the time of writing. In her assessment the large scale is highly effective for the physical and cultural geography of so vast a continent, the offset printing is clear with a wide color range, and the colors are intended to carry logical meaning, which she singles out as important for subjects such as soils and vegetation. The commentaries are written by specialists and many include additional maps, diagrams and bibliography; together, she expects them to form a useful compendium. Temperature and rainfall are the exceptions to the general scale, presented as series of small maps of annual and monthly data. The mineral-deposits map uses color for mineral group, symbol form for economic importance and symbol size for deposit size, covering 71 minerals. She also notes Plate 11 on surface-water conservation (supply, control, storage), Plate 12 on underground water including its quality, Plate 41 on drainage systems differentiated by permanence of river flow and lake-water quality with discharge diagrams for selected stations 1930–1954, and Plate 22 on population density and distribution based on the 1947 census.

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This article provides a comprehensive review of national atlases published worldwide up to the time of writing. It notes that since the Geographical Review first coined the term 'Age of National Atlases' in 1940, the surge of nationalism after World War II has greatly accelerated the production and scope of such atlases. The author surveys 26 published national atlases and 3 in preparation. The article first emphasizes that a national atlas aims to portray all aspects of a country—physical, economic, and social—and highlights a welcome trend: the inclusion of map titles, legends, and text summaries in English or French for atlases published in less familiar languages. The review is then organized by region. For Europe, it details atlases from Austria (Atlas von Niederösterreich), Belgium (Atlas de Belgique), France (revised Atlas de France), and Germany (Deutscher Planungsatlas, specifically Atlas von Berlin), among others, discussing their institutional backing, content structure, scales, cartographic techniques, and unique features, such as Berlin's depiction of wartime damage and postwar development, and Belgium's detailed demographic and agricultural maps. Atlases from Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, Italy, and Norway are also mentioned. For Africa, the planned Atlas du Maroc is described. For Oceania, the Atlas of Australian Resources is reviewed, highlighting its origin in post-war resource assessment, its effective use of a large scale, and its focus on water resources and population distribution. For North America, the article reports on the progress of a Canadian national atlas and the initiation of the National Atlas of the United States, a collaborative federal effort to compile standardized thematic maps from various government agencies. The article concludes that these national atlases represent significant achievements in geographic and cartographic scholarship, serving as invaluable resources for students, planners, and businesses.