Book reviews: Atlas of the Republic of Austria

Summary

This review assesses the first two installments of the Atlas of the Republic of Austria, a six-part national atlas designed as a comprehensive cartographic regional study. Edited by the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the project integrates analytical and synthetic maps across twelve thematic fields, including natural conditions, settlement, population, economy, transport, culture, spatial structure, and regional planning. The reviewer emphasizes the atlas’s rigorous methodology, extensive source documentation, cross-border perspective, and high standards of cartographic and printing execution. Particularly successful maps depict Vienna’s urban fabric and housing, prevailing land use, tourism, industrial locations, livestock-market catchment areas, and central-place systems. Some maps, however, would benefit from overlays or additional topographic and administrative references. Overall, the atlas is judged a valuable resource for scholarship, government, business, and spatial planning, although definitive evaluation must await completion of the full work.