National Atlas of Cuba: on the tenth anniversary of the Revolution.
Atlas nacional de Cuba: en el décimo aniversario de la Revolución.
Cuba · Unknown · 1970
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A Forgotten Atlas of Erwin Raisz: “Atlas de Cuba”
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The “Atlas de Cuba” was published in 1949 by the Institute of Geographical Exploration at Harvard University. This atlas is result of collaboration between Erwin Raisz, the American cartographer born in Hungary and a Cuban geographer and cartographer, Gerardo Canet. Using Canet’s words in the Introduction, the atlas is “a living picture of Cuban Geography as far as possible in 64 pages”. A total of 34 themes were represented by maps and graphics, presenting the history of the country, its physical geographical characteristics, the major parameters to describe the society (standard of living, health, social composition, government, etc.) and the national economy. The atlas is the rich combination of maps with pictures, charts and text. The authors not only wanted to create an atlas for scientists and specialists with the different topics represented in the maps: their intention was to make all this information available and easily understandable for the public in general. The atlas joined two peculiar cartographic styles: the delicacy of the drawing ability of Erwin Raisz and Canet’s interest to represent the broader spectrum of data collected by him, using all the graphic tools at their disposal to make the atlas more attractive. This little masterpiece of the mid-twentieth century constitutes a gem intentionally ignored by the current Cuban cartography.
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The New National Atlas of Cuba represents a major advance in the geography and cartography of Cuba. The country's own socioeconomic development rendered the first National Atlas of Cuba, published in 1970, obsolete. Consequently, in 1983 the process of creating a new edition began. With the work and participation of almost 150 institutions and 1,500 specialists, and under the direction of the Institute of Geography of the Academy of Sciences of Cuba and the Cuban Institute of Geodesy and Cartography, the new edition was published in January 1989. The atlas consists of 210 map sheets and text divided into 18 thematic sections. The atlas format measures 59 X 52 cm and presents the entire country at cartographic scales between 1:1,000,000 and 1:4,000,000. The fruits of the atlas are already appreciated not only in its practical usefulness, but also in the Geographic Information System (GIS-Cuba) and in other new works arising from this experience.
Geographical Reviews: Atlas Nacional de Cuba
Dyer, Donald R. · 1972
This paper examines the first national atlas of Cuba, published in Spanish and Russian to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Revolution. Commissioned in 1965 by the Cuban Academy of Sciences through a joint Cuban-Soviet initiative, the atlas is analyzed not merely as a cartographic product but as a political document embedded in the ideology of the post‑1959 socialist state. The study uses descriptive content analysis to assess the atlas’s structure, thematic coverage, data sources, and rhetorical framing. The volume comprises 102 map pages and 29 pages of text, with topics ranging from physical geography and natural resources to economy, population, education, health, and historical narrative. Most socioeconomic data refer to 1965–1966, while the textual sections and introductory remarks explicitly frame the work as a homage to the revolutionary transformation of Cuba from a “pseudo-republic” to a sovereign socialist state. The analysis finds that despite this ideological framing, cartographic evidence of revolutionary achievements remains limited: the only direct spatial representation of post‑revolutionary economic progress is an inset map detailing new industrial installations completed, under construction, or expanded between 1959 and 1967. Other maps, such as those of land use, industry, and transport, do not visually convey the asserted systemic transformation. The paper concludes that the atlas, while a monumental undertaking, functions more as a symbolic political artifact than as a comprehensive geographic portrait, reflecting the inherent tension between scientific cartography and state‑sponsored propaganda goals during the Cold War era.
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