Ghana National Atlas: Folio of Maps

Cartographical Survey: National Atlas of Ghana. First Folio

Anson, R. W. · 1974

This paper reviews a recently produced thematic atlas folio of Ghana, compiled less than thirteen years after the adoption of the country’s first Republican constitution. The folio, whose background and authors remain obscure, presents fifteen map sheets at a scale of 1:1,500,000, covering themes in agriculture, demography, transport, education, and banking. The maps employ a wide array of cartographic symbolization techniques, including pie-graphs, proportional circles, divided bar graphs, dot maps, choropleths, flow lines, and point symbols, all rendered using a maximum of eight solid colors without halftone screens. The review evaluates the design effectiveness of these methods. While the maps are reasonably clear and demonstrate diverse visualization strategies, several inconsistencies undermine their overall quality. Colors appear garish in places, and the yellow land mask varies in intensity across sheets. The use of black for titles, borders, and labels on some maps but grey on others introduces further visual confusion, and symbol placement occasionally obscures underlying lettering. Data range from the 1960 and 1970 censuses, necessitating caution when synthesizing a comprehensive thematic impression. The reviewer acknowledges the ambitious scope of the project and credits its initiators for tackling such a complex task, but concludes that greater attention to design consistency—particularly in color application, type placement, and tonal harmony—would have significantly improved readability and professional appearance. This critique highlights the cartographic challenges of balancing thematic richness with clear communication in national atlases.