The new National Atlas of Hungary – volume Natural Environment

Summary

This paper presents the conceptual framework, historical antecedents, and practical outcomes of the new edition of the National Atlas of Hungary, with special emphasis on its second volume, Natural Environment, published in 2018. The atlas project was coordinated by the Geographical Institute of the Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with the Department of Cartography and Geoinformatics at ELTE Eötvös Loránd University and numerous other institutions. Unlike previous Hungarian national atlases, which covered only the state territory, the new edition extends its spatial scope to the entire Carpatho–Pannonian Area (approximately 500,000 km², including 34,000 settlements in twelve countries), aiming to present the dynamic spatial structure of nature, society, and economy wherever data are available. The atlas is being published in four volumes—The Hungarian State and its Place in the World, Natural Environment, Society, and Economy—in both Hungarian and English, accompanied by a digital version (e-MNA). The paper traces the development of Hungarian national atlases from Chavanne's 1887 physical-statistical atlas of Austria-Hungary, through the 1920 economic atlas, Rónai's 1945 Atlas of Central Europe, to the first official national atlases of 1967 and 1989, analyzing their historical contexts and scholarly significance. The Natural Environment volume comprises 183 pages and thirteen chapters covering geology, geophysics, relief, climate, waters, soils, vegetation, animals, landscapes, environmental protection, nature conservation, and natural hazards. Compared with the 1989 edition, the length and number of maps have doubled, the share of explanatory texts, tables, graphs, and photographs has increased from 25% to 50%, and new features include large-scale case-study maps of the Carpathian Basin, small-scale overview maps of Europe, and a synthesizing chapter on natural hazards. Special attention is paid to the international treatment of geographical names: English versions prioritize English names, and minority-language names are added where ethnic minorities exceed 10% of the population. The authors emphasize that producing three national atlases within just over fifty years is almost unparalleled, demonstrating the enduring commitment of Hungarian cartographers and geographers to cultivating the image of the country at home and abroad. The new atlas is intended not only for academic research but also for raising awareness and informing the broader public, making it an authoritative yet accessible reference on the natural environment of Hungary and the wider Carpatho–Pannonian region.