Seventh plenary meeting of the Commission on National Atlases of the International Geographical Union

Summary

This article reviews the principal discussions and resolutions of the Seventh Plenary Meeting of the International Geographical Union’s Commission on National Atlases, held in Madrid from 26 to 30 April 1970 and accompanied by an international exhibition of national and regional atlases. The meeting assessed the Commission’s mandate in light of major changes in geography and cartography. Comprehensive atlases, formerly valued mainly as systematic syntheses of scientific knowledge, had increasingly become practical instruments for the rational use and restoration of natural resources, environmental protection, territorial organization of productive forces, government planning, and regional development. The Commission therefore reaffirmed that its central purpose should remain the promotion and qualitative improvement of national, regional, and metropolitan comprehensive atlases. Proposed means included biennial exchanges and exhibitions, research on atlas types, content, users, production, revision, and republication, bibliographic services, expert consultation, and closer cooperation with the International Cartographic Association. Reports surveyed extensive atlas programs in France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Canada, India, the United States, Spain, Sweden, Poland, Bulgaria, Belgium, and several newly independent or cartographically developing countries. These cases demonstrated the growing use of regional atlases for resource development and planning, the diversity produced by local natural, economic, and administrative conditions, and the practical utility of small-scale thematic maps. Methodological contributions examined automated thematic mapping based on spatial grids and electronic computers, rapid map updating, synthetic socioeconomic maps, trade mapping, modeling in regional atlases, and the standardization of transport symbols. The meeting particularly emphasized research on maps evaluating natural conditions for specific practical purposes, predictive mapping, metropolitan atlas design, efficient revision procedures, and the adoption of computerized and automated production methods. It further argued that continued development of national and regional atlases should ultimately prepare the conceptual and empirical foundation for a future “Thematic Atlas of the World.” The Commission requested that its eighth plenary meeting be held during the 1972 International Geographical Congress in Montreal to facilitate participation, reduce costs, and use the congress atlas exhibition.