Atlas of the Azerbaijan SSR
Азербайджанская ССР Атласы
Azerbaijan · Главное управление геодезии и картографии СССР · 1963
Related Reviews & Articles
Cartography: Atlases
Unknown · 1964
This paper examines the unique cartographic and editorial challenges encountered in producing the first Hebrew edition of the Atlas of Israel (1964), a comprehensive work comprising 102 sheets and 720 large-scale maps. Although modeled on other national atlases, the Israeli atlas diverged significantly due to three primary factors: the country's rapid demographic and cultural transformations, its distinctive geographical position and elongated shape, and the uneven reliability of its documentary base. The most influential factor was the dramatic 600% population increase over two generations, which drove extreme changes in agriculture, economy, communication, and services. To capture this dynamism, the atlas employs time-sequence map series for most topics rather than single static representations, and includes supplementary maps to update content. Geographically, Israel's location on the arid zone boundary creates sharp north-south contrasts, with highly diverse physical, human, and economic elements in the north versus a monotonous south, compounded by varied topography over small altitude ranges. These spatial characteristics demanded specialized cartographic solutions. Finally, the area's political history under Ottoman, British, and Israeli administrations within 50 years resulted in data that differ greatly in coverage and reliability. The paper details how these interrelated problems shaped the atlas's content, design, and production.
Comprehensive Atlas of the Azerbaijan SSR
Мартынова, З. И.; Минц, А. А. · 1964
This paper presents a critical review of the *Atlas of the Azerbaijan SSR* (1963), a comprehensive scientific reference work compiled under the Institute of Geography of the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences. The analysis systematically examines the atlas’s structure, thematic coverage, and cartographic methods, comparing it with other Soviet regional atlases, especially the *Atlas of the Armenian SSR*. The atlas comprises 210 maps organized into sections on natural conditions (53 %), economy (36 %), and culture and history (11 %), offering an integrated portrait of the republic’s physical geography, population, industry, agriculture, transport, and cultural development. Several cartographic innovations are highlighted, such as maps of structural regionalization, atmospheric circulation types, soil erosion intensity, mudflow dynamics, and a dedicated section on the Caspian Sea that functions as a miniature thematic atlas. The review identifies both strengths and shortcomings. On the positive side, the atlas features rich content, extensive graphic supplements, high printing quality, and up-to-date scientific data. Deficiencies include logical inconsistencies in map sequencing, an inadequate treatment of population (administrative averages obscuring actual settlement patterns, absence of city typologies and recent growth dynamics), missing agricultural productivity and agrometeorological maps, and a binding order dictated by format rather than logic. Despite these flaws, the atlas is judged a successful and valuable contribution to Soviet cartography, reflecting advanced research and a thorough understanding of Azerbaijan’s natural and socio-economic conditions.
Integrated regional geographic atlases
Salishchev, K. A. · 1964
The author reviews work on atlases of Soviet republics and oblasts published in 1961-64, containing maps on physical geography, population, economy and culture. He finds that these atlases suffer from a lack of practical purposefulness and inadequate coordination. These weaknesses are to be remedied in a new coordinated project of natural-resource atlases of the major republics and economic regions of the USSR initiated in 1963.)
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