Atlas Cartography in Croatia

Summary

Croatia's geographical position at the crossroads of the Mediterranean and Central/Southeast Europe has stimulated cartographic activity since antiquity. From Ptolemy's fifth map of Europe to the portolan charts and Glavač's 1673 map, Croatian territories have been depicted by numerous foreign and domestic cartographers. In the twentieth century, atlas production in Croatia was dominated by editions tied to Yugoslavia, often obscuring Croatia's distinct identity. The collapse of the multinational state and the establishment of an independent Croatia created an urgent need for a new, scientifically grounded cartographic presentation. This paper focuses on the response of the Cartographic Department at the Miroslav Krleža Lexicographical Institute, which designed three atlas projects: A Concise Atlas of the Republic of Croatia (and Bosnia-Herzegovina) (1993) for international readers; the Road Atlas of Croatia (Autoatlas Hrvatske), a practical tourist guide updated to reflect new borders; and Atlas Europe, an innovative thematic atlas that links natural, demographic, economic, cultural, historical and geopolitical topics, giving special attention to Croatia's role in a changed Europe. The new atlases combine traditional cartographic methods with modern GIS technology and aim to replace inaccurate European perceptions of Croatia with accurate, comprehensive and accessible geographic information. They represent both a continuation of Croatian atlas traditions and a significant innovation in regional cartography.