Atlas of Finland

Summary

The publication of the fifth Atlas of Finland began in 1977, with a first volume. Once completed, the Atlas will constitute a reference work comprising more than 3,000 thematic maps and diagrams accompanied by text, providing an overview of the country's physical and human geography, population, economic life, society, and culture. The Atlas is published jointly by the Geographical Society of Finland and the National Survey Board. The supervision of the entire work, entrusted to the Scientific Committee for the Atlas Edition, is carried out within the National Survey Board. Specialists from each field assist in the design of the maps and write the articles. Four earlier editions of the Atlas of Finland have been published by the Geographical Society of Finland—in 1899, 1910, 1925, and 1960. As these publications presented a broad description of a single country and people, the term "national atlas" came to be applied. In many countries today, the production of an atlas describing the land and society is considered a means of raising national consciousness. In this sense, the 1899 edition of the Atlas of Finland was indeed the first national atlas in the world. At that time, when there was political oppression, the first task of the atlas was political—to reveal to the rest of the world the existence of a distinctively Finnish society. After Finland became independent, the political aspect faded; and distribution abroad is no longer the primary aim, even though the current Atlas is published in three languages. Priority is given to describing, as vividly as possible, the natural features and human activities in various parts of Finland. The maps 1/ may also help to pinpoint regional problems and thereby provide a point of departure for social and regional planning. Cartographers customarily divide maps into two main types—topographic maps and thematic maps. Topographic maps, such as the road maps and the 1:20,000 base map of the National Board of Survey, describe the terrain or visible features of the surface of Earth. Thus, they can be used for locational orientation. Thematic maps, on the other hand, represent a theme or something other than the terrain, perhaps in relation to municipal divisions or population size. They do not assist orientation. Most of the maps presented in the Atlas of Finland are thematic in nature. The fifth edition of the Atlas of Finland, although still a national atlas with the objective of describing comprehensively the land and people of Finland, differs from the preceding editions in the following respects: (a) The scope is broader; (b) It is being presented as separate subject folios, which are published immediately after completion; (c) The text is central to each folio; it links the maps of each subject area into a unified whole; (d) Each folio has a list of references and an index; the latter also provides the essential terminology of the field. Legends and explanations for maps and diagrams are given in Finnish, Swedish, and English. Although the folio articles appear in Finnish, the Swedish and English translations are available as appendices to the folio. These appendices include translations of the index; figures and the list of references, however, are given only in the folio proper.