Notes and reviews: National atlas of Brazil - Northeast region

Summary

This review evaluates the 1985 National Atlas of Brazil—Northeast Region and highlights its importance for disseminating geographic knowledge about northeastern Brazil. Based on a descriptive assessment of the atlas’s organization, cartographic design, thematic coverage, and practical utility, the article examines a 103-page volume containing 53 pages of color maps, mainly at scales of 1:4,000,000 and 1:8,000,000, supplemented by explanatory texts, smaller monochrome maps, tables, and graphs. The atlas combines analytical and synthetic representations across fifteen thematic sections, including general references, geology and relief, climate, renewable resources, population, primary activities, industry, energy and transportation, commerce and finance, health, education, housing conditions, tourism, living standards, and urban and regional organization. Particular strengths include the visual and printing quality of the maps, the integration of graphic and textual information, and the breadth of spatial data available to readers at different levels of expertise. The principal criticism concerns inconsistent class-interval notation, which may create ambiguity at category boundaries and reflects a broader weakness in Brazilian cartographic publications. Despite this limitation, the atlas is judged to be a highly significant cartographic repository. Produced through cooperation between IBGE and SUDENE, it offers teachers, students, researchers, and planners a comprehensive overview of the Northeast’s physical, demographic, economic, social, and regional characteristics and problems.