National atlases of foreign countries

Summary

This paper reviews the development of national atlases abroad, using the online versions of South Australia, the United States, Sweden, and Canada as case studies. The analysis shows that modern national atlases go far beyond their paper counterparts. They typically provide interactive maps with zooming, navigation, layer management, printing, and object query tools; thematic maps are accompanied by statistical charts, graphs, and explanatory notes; and gazetteers are integrated as a key component. Metadata increasingly follow national and international standards such as ANZLIC and FGDC, enabling integration into spatial data infrastructures. The U.S. atlas supports user-defined map creation and free vector data download; the Canadian atlas contains more than 200 interactive maps and an educational section; and the Swedish atlas, though based on a 17-volume paper edition, also offers a CD-ROM and an interactive map. Finally, the authors recommend that when building Russia's national atlas, it should provide rich functions and information via the Internet, adopt standardized metadata, develop place-name search and retrieval systems, and open selected data to users.