Register of thematic maps: Atlas of Colombia

Summary

The Atlas de Colômbia, published in October 1967 by the Agustín Codazzi Geographical Institute in collaboration with numerous public and private entities, offers a vast compilation of geographic information on the country. This review examines the atlas’s structure, cartographic quality, and thematic content. The volume assembles approximately 150 maps, plans, diagrams, photographs, and drawings at various scales, representing a major effort to systematize existing cartographic studies. However, the compilation results in significant heterogeneity: modern, detailed maps coexist with antiquated, generalized representations, and inconsistencies appear in colors, lettering, and symbols. The work is organized into three broad sectors—didactic (cosmography, astronomy, general physical geography, cartography), historical (extensive collection of old maps), and geographic (physical, human, and economic maps at national and departmental levels). Physical geography maps are particularly strong, with geology, relief, temperature variation according to altitude, soils, erosion, and ecology (following Holdridge’s classification) well represented and providing valuable insight into Colombia’s natural framework. In contrast, human and economic maps, despite covering many themes, tend to be superficial, merely showing the distribution of products and crops without conveying spatial organization. Exceptions include maps of population distribution, living-standard differentials (based on Lebret’s criteria), and geo-economic regions with attraction centers by Guhl, which attempt a more dynamic interpretation. The atlas thus reflects a transitional stage between the traditional descriptive, enumerative atlas and the modern dynamic, interpretative one. It mirrors a stage of economic development where natural conditions still heavily condition human organization, and constitutes a tangible advance in Colombia’s geographic knowledge.