The “Atlas of France”

Summary

The Atlas de France revives the national-atlas project first proposed by the astronomer Delaunay in 1871. After sample sheets received a favorable response at the 1931 International Geographical Congress in Paris, the French government funded its full production under the National Committee of Geography. Planned for completion within five years, the atlas will comprise eighty plates issued in four annual installments, systematically representing France’s physical, biological, economic, demographic, and political geography through reliable and innovative cartographic methods. Its structure assigns twenty-five plates to physical geography, eight to biogeography, thirty-one to economic geography, and sixteen to human and political geography. Using scales ranging from detailed regional maps to national syntheses, the work combines thematic maps, local enlargements, profiles, and diagrams. Published or planned subjects include relief and bathymetry, municipal population density, vegetation, temperature regimes, mineral deposits, and metallurgical industries. Particular innovations include maps of actual seasonal temperatures, thermal transects, phenological indicators, and proportional representations of industrial labor forces. The completed atlas will contain at least 400 maps, excluding diagrams. Despite high production costs, its accessible price is intended to facilitate acquisition by public and private libraries, while its scientific rigor and cartographic originality are expected to influence comparable projects abroad.