Book reviews: National Atlas of Afghanistan

Summary

The National Atlas of Afghanistan, edited by Andreas Dittmann, represents a bold scholarly undertaking given the country’s prolonged warfare, acute data scarcity, and sensitive ethno-linguistic divisions. This review evaluates the atlas’s ambitious compilation of regional information, its cartographic excellence, and its dual role as both a reference work and an instrument of nation-building. The atlas comprises 43 large-format maps organized into six thematic sections: natural conditions and resources (the largest), economy and agriculture, public and private services, culture and history, human dimensions, and city plans. Statistical data, largely spanning 2001–2009, are presented on a provincial basis alongside facing-page explanatory texts enriched with additional diagrams and historical comparisons. Noteworthy innovations include detailed maps on health infrastructure, educational provision, and urban expansion, as well as language maps that cautiously address ethnicity, though coverage of nomadic tribal distributions is minimal. The cartography is consistently praised for its clarity, colour choice, and legibility. Criticisms centre on uneven depth in some textual explanations and an underutilization of pre-war French and anthropological scholarship. Despite these minor shortcomings, the atlas is hailed as an indispensable source for planning, administration, education, and the fostering of Afghan national identity. Published through German-Afghan cooperation under the Stability Pact Afghanistan, it stands as both an academic milestone and a political document, affirming the intrinsic link between geographic knowledge and statehood.