The New Edition of the National Atlas of Hungary

The visible opening and closing materials describe the objectives, data sources, collaborative preparation, and selected contents of the new National Atlas of Hungary. The edition aimed to portray Hungary’s natural and socioeconomic resources and national assets in the early 1980s, subject to data availability, and to summarize changes over the preceding two decades in population, housing and living conditions, settlements, administration, production, and services, including changes associated with reforms initiated in the late 1960s. Maps, charts, tables, and detailed explanatory notes brought together accumulated scientific research, cartographic surveys, and thematic mapping. Principal sources included the 1980 census and production statistics for 1984–1985; explanatory sections also incorporated information from 1988. Statistical gaps limited coverage, particularly estimates of employment and contributions to national income in the “second economy.” Following a 1983 appeal by the president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, twelve ministries and other bodies supported preparation, involving several hundred experts from more than fifty institutions. Institute of British Geographers experts reviewed the English legends and texts. The closing contents lists and plates cover land use, agricultural production, farm operations, forestry, and food industries. Visible land-use legends distinguish arable land, forests, vineyards, orchards, and several grassland categories, while crop-production classifications draw on 1984 data from state farms and agricultural cooperatives.