Regional atlases: a summary survey

Summary

The article provides a compendious survey of approximately one hundred regional atlases recently published worldwide. Faced with an overwhelming influx of atlases that underscore the map's role as an indispensable research tool, the author groups these works by continent and country to afford them recognition despite constraints on detailed individual review. The discussion begins with Europe, examining road atlases, historical-geographical works, national planning atlases, climatic atlases, linguistic surveys, and pictorial cultural atlases from countries including Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and the Soviet Union. Key features such as scale, thematic organization, cartographic quality, and innovative content (e.g., economic, demographic, climatic, and ethnographic data) are highlighted. The survey notes the role of institutions, the evolution of atlas series, and the integration of explanatory texts. The article concludes by acknowledging the continuing flood of important publications and the inevitability of relying on concise summaries, while expressing regret that limitations of space and expertise preclude exhaustive critique. It also announces a forthcoming companion review of world and special atlases.