National Atlas of Hungary
Magyarország Nemzeti Atlasza
Hungary · Kartográfiai Vállalat · 1989
Related Reviews & Articles
Book Review Section: National Atlas of Hungary Vol. 2: Natural Environment
Peter Jordan · 2019
This review assesses Kocsis et al.'s National Atlas of Hungary Vol. 2: Natural Environment, the first published part of a new four-volume national atlas series. It outlines the atlas's organizational structure, cartographic design, multilingual naming approach, and thematic breadth across 13 chapters covering geology, geophysics, relief, climate, waters, soils, vegetation, animals, landscapes, environmental protection, nature conservation, and natural hazards. The reviewer highlights the atlas's success in embedding Hungary in the wider Carpathian-Pannonian context, integrating explanatory texts and photos with maps, and applying innovative cartographic methods. Minor criticisms concern occasional typographic choices, map author attribution, and naming consistency. Overall, the atlas is praised as an outstanding scientific and national symbol that effectively replaces traditional written regional geography.
Könyvismertetés: Magyarország Nemzeti Atlasza
László Bassa · 1989
This review by László Bassa, a member of the editorial board, assesses the second edition of the National Atlas of Hungary (1989) compared with its 1967 predecessor. The purpose is to highlight innovations in cartographic representation and content that reflect the socio-economic and environmental changes over two decades. The atlas integrates traditional physical geography chapters with new sections on nature and environmental protection, social infrastructure, production, and regional planning. The author notes a shift from quantitative to qualitative mapping, including evaluative and typological maps. However, he identifies significant limitations: unreliable statistical data (e.g., commuters and agricultural employment), lack of representation of the emerging private sector, and insufficient synthesis of water resources and environmental issues. He argues that future national atlases should be connected to geographic information systems and more openly address critical problems. The review concludes that national atlases must adapt to changing economic structures and geographic paradigms.
The new National Atlas of Hungary – volume Natural Environment
Károly Kocsis; Zsombor Nemerkényi; László Zentai; Gábor Gercsák · 2019
This paper presents the conceptual framework, historical antecedents, and practical outcomes of the new edition of the National Atlas of Hungary, with special emphasis on its second volume, Natural Environment, published in 2018. The atlas project was coordinated by the Geographical Institute of the Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with the Department of Cartography and Geoinformatics at ELTE Eötvös Loránd University and numerous other institutions. Unlike previous Hungarian national atlases, which covered only the state territory, the new edition extends its spatial scope to the entire Carpatho–Pannonian Area (approximately 500,000 km², including 34,000 settlements in twelve countries), aiming to present the dynamic spatial structure of nature, society, and economy wherever data are available. The atlas is being published in four volumes—The Hungarian State and its Place in the World, Natural Environment, Society, and Economy—in both Hungarian and English, accompanied by a digital version (e-MNA). The paper traces the development of Hungarian national atlases from Chavanne's 1887 physical-statistical atlas of Austria-Hungary, through the 1920 economic atlas, Rónai's 1945 Atlas of Central Europe, to the first official national atlases of 1967 and 1989, analyzing their historical contexts and scholarly significance. The Natural Environment volume comprises 183 pages and thirteen chapters covering geology, geophysics, relief, climate, waters, soils, vegetation, animals, landscapes, environmental protection, nature conservation, and natural hazards. Compared with the 1989 edition, the length and number of maps have doubled, the share of explanatory texts, tables, graphs, and photographs has increased from 25% to 50%, and new features include large-scale case-study maps of the Carpathian Basin, small-scale overview maps of Europe, and a synthesizing chapter on natural hazards. Special attention is paid to the international treatment of geographical names: English versions prioritize English names, and minority-language names are added where ethnic minorities exceed 10% of the population. The authors emphasize that producing three national atlases within just over fifty years is almost unparalleled, demonstrating the enduring commitment of Hungarian cartographers and geographers to cultivating the image of the country at home and abroad. The new atlas is intended not only for academic research but also for raising awareness and informing the broader public, making it an authoritative yet accessible reference on the natural environment of Hungary and the wider Carpatho–Pannonian region.
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