Theories, methods, and practice on the National Atlases of China

The history of editing National Atlases in the world was summarized at first, and follows with China's achievements in editing of the 1st and 2nd version of The National Atlases of China (NAC), which reflected, in multiple levels, China's development of science and technology, society and economy, resources and environment, etc. from 1950s to 1980s. From the previous edition of NAC, systematic theories and methods were summarized and concluded, including comprehensive and statistical mapping theory, designing principle of electronic atlases, and new method the technologies involved in NAC. Then, the New Century Edition of NAC is designed, including its orientation, technological system, volume arrangement, and key scientific and technological problems to be resolved.