Los llamados atlas nacionales y el primero de ellos: el de Finlandia

Summary

At the 1956 International Geographical Congress, a Commission on National Atlases was established to encourage and standardize the production of such works. A national atlas synthesizes contemporary knowledge of a country's physical, human, economic, and political geography. The first national atlas, at least chronologically, was the Atlas of Finland, published in 1899; subsequent editions appeared in 1910 and the late 1920s. This article reviews the evolution of national atlases worldwide, their interruption during wartime, and renewed publication in fascicles after 1945. It then focuses on the three Finnish editions, analyzing their structure, cartographic improvements, and shortcomings, and concludes that the Atlas of Finland exercised considerable influence and remains a significant model for geographic synthesis and national planning.