National atlases: concept, content, development experience

Summary

This paper generalizes the quarter-century experience of the Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences in the scientific development of national atlases in collaboration with Cuba, Mongolia, and Vietnam. The research aims to analyze methodological principles, thematic structures, and practical outcomes of creating these fundamental complex cartographic works for countries with varying levels of territorial knowledge. Methods include formulating flexible scientific concepts, coordinating interdisciplinary teams, conducting field surveys, performing scientific editing, and training national personnel. The national atlases of Cuba (1970, and a new edition in the late 1980s), Mongolia (1989), and Vietnam (late 1980s) are examined as holistic models that integrate physical, social, economic, historical, and cultural dimensions of a nation-state. Key findings show that such atlases can be successfully compiled even with incomplete or uneven geographic data, employing flexible thematic structures, scale series, and sometimes alternative syntheses or contradictory maps. Comparable analyses of map sets (e.g., geomorphology, hydrology, industry) reveal both common typological features and substantial thematic differences driven by national specificity. The atlases serve as powerful tools for resource inventory, territorial planning, scientific synthesis, and capacity building. The paper concludes that a flexible, integrative approach is essential, and that this model of international cooperation offers a valuable framework for advancing geography and cartography in less-studied countries.