Demographic Atlas of Albania: Pilot project for a National Atlas Information System in a South East European transformation country. Mapping approaches into a changing world

Summary

Albania, one of the least known South East European transformation countries, still lacks a national atlas providing fundamental information on its physical, economic, societal and political structures after the start of the transformation period. To investigate the feasibility of compiling a national atlas, a pilot project was conducted by developing and producing one thematic segment: the current demographic situation. The "Demographic Atlas of Albania" (AGPS) is a cartographic work on the structure and dynamics of the Albanian population following the post-socialist reform period. It targets a wide public in politics, economics, education and society, seeking to engage laypersons with the demographic fundamentals of the country. This paper discusses basic conceptual considerations for a national atlas as one product of a national atlas information system (NAIS) and their application to the pilot atlas AGPS. Central issues of database design, cartographic visualisation and workflow are dealt with in detail. The atlas is based on a geographic information system (GIS) to allow for the subsequent creation of a digital NAIS. The AGPS concept includes thematic focus on current transformation structures, problem-oriented compilation based on a narrative, appealing and easy-to-understand map visualisation, brief textual explanations, retrospective visualisation of pre-transformation development, trilingual lettering (Albanian, English, German), and paper maps as the primary presentation medium with complementary screen maps. The production process involved a joint Albanian-German effort: printing films were produced in Germany to guarantee high quality, while printing and binding were carried out in Albania with on-the-job training of local staff. The resulting atlas volume demonstrates that high-quality map production is feasible under the difficult conditions of the transformation process, and the product is comparable to similar international atlases. The pilot project proved the feasibility of an AIS project in Albania through multinational cooperation, and the positive reactions from users, public and media confirm that the atlas concept successfully addresses the target audience. The AGPS has also been recognised as a competitive commercial book product nationally. Based on this experience, the project partners have decided to continue collaboration by developing a second atlas focusing on economic structures and development in the transformation period. Conceptions for further atlases (political, environmental) have been developed, and a complementary electronic version of the AGPS is planned, with a prototype expected to be available on the internet in 2005.