Thoughts concerning the "Atlas of Turkey"

Summary

This article reviews the Atlas of Turkey, published in 1961 by the Geographical Institute of the University of Istanbul as the country's first national atlas. It contains 87 coloured maps at scales from 1:6,000,000 to 1:800,000, assembling widely scattered material on Turkey's regional geography. The maps of climate, population distribution, and land use are singled out as especially valuable, whereas shortcomings include outdated statistical data (mostly ending in 1952–53), over-concise vegetation maps, overly coarse province-based mapping units, and occasionally ambiguous legends. Although not yet comparable in every respect with major national atlases, the atlas represents a considerable scholarly achievement and a valuable reference tool for anyone studying regional problems of Turkey.