Mexico publishes the first national atlas.

Summary

The General Directorate of Geography and National Territory (DGGTN) of Mexico compiled the country's first national atlas over a period of four years and seven months, with design and compilation taking four years and drafting and printing seven months. The atlas contains 224 pages: 164 pages of line maps, 17 pages of image maps, 11 pages of legends, 16 pages of place‑name index, and 13 pages of explanatory text. All maps are printed in six colors on a uniform sheet size of 88 × 48 cm. The base scale is 1:250,000, while the introductory maps are at 1:5,000,000, showing the national territory and major features such as hydrography, relief, settlements, roads, railways, and administrative divisions, as well as the principal coastal economic zones. The atlas comprises eleven thematic map groups: topographic map, relief map, geostatistical map, mean annual precipitation map, mean annual temperature map, climate map, geological map, land‑use map, soil map, tourism map, and image map. Topographic maps use the Lambert conformal conic projection with two standard parallels and depict state capitals, settlements over 5,000 population, roads, and railways. Relief maps apply warm colors for lower elevations and cool colors for higher areas, with white for peaks above 4,000 m. Geostatistical maps encode each state with a two‑digit number and statistical districts with a five‑digit code. Climate maps combine temperature and precipitation data, delineating climate regions with distinct colors. Geological maps portray rock types and ages using internationally recognized color schemes. Tourism maps emphasize access routes to recreational sites and indicate service facilities with symbols. Image maps were derived from Landsat imagery (1973–1978) in a conformal projection at 1:1,000,000, with blue‑toned images and minimal black annotation. The atlas integrates diverse physical and socio‑economic geographic information, representing a milestone in Mexican thematic cartography.