Gérard Brasseur · 1968
This note introduces the first eight map sheets of the International Atlas of West Africa, outlining the project’s origins, production, contents, and scholarly significance. Conceived at the 1945 Conference of West Africanists and coordinated by IFAN, the initiative was later endorsed by an Organization of African Unity scientific body and supported by the Ford Foundation. The initial installment covers West Africa’s global setting, seas and coasts, climate, political and administrative divisions, and zoogeography, using several cartographic scales and bilingual French-English explanatory notes. Although this release addresses regional documentation needs only partially, the planned atlas will eventually comprise about fifty sheets, including relief, land use, education, and health facilities. By treating West Africa as an integrated geographical region, the atlas promises to illuminate both contrasts and similarities across political boundaries while demonstrating the importance of sustained institutional and scholarly collaboration.
François Bourlière · 1969
F. Bourlière reviews the eight plates in the 1968 first delivery of the International Atlas of West Africa, issued with bilingual explanatory texts. He praises the clarity of the climate maps, particularly the seasonal rainfall distributions and the 48 monthly maps comparing precipitation, temperature, humidity and surface winds. He identifies errors in the mapped ranges of Jentink's duiker, the zebra duiker and Buffon's kob. He also questions the contrasting distribution schemes for mammals and birds on plate 18, arguing that mobility and the ability to cross geographical or ecological barriers often explain range size better. Bourlière considers the atlas a valuable synthesis but calls for corrections to its zoogeographical details and awkward or erroneous English before publication.
P. Kraske · 1969
This article introduces the International Atlas of West Africa, a long-planned and ambitious bilingual cartographic work whose first sheets were published in autumn 1968. Comprising some 50 maps, the atlas covers a wide range of themes, including geoscientific topics (relief, geology, geomorphology, pedology, climate) and human geography (history, languages, cultures, peoples, industrialisation, urban and regional planning). Compiled by the geographical department of IFAN (formerly Institut Français d'Afrique Noire) in Dakar, the atlas is published under the auspices of the OAU and with support from the Ford Foundation. The article also briefly reviews the history of Swedish globe-making, from the oldest globe in Erik XIV's royal orb to the establishment of the Cosmographical Society in Uppsala and the successive globe-makers Åkerman, Åkrel and others.
