Norway

At the end of 1979, Norway’s Ministry of Environment appointed a steering committee for a national atlas intended to support administration, planning and education. The Geographical Survey of Norway was to produce and publish loose thematic maps with explanatory pamphlets, organized under 21 planned themes. Notes published in 1983–1993 covered base maps, geology, agriculture and forestry, industry, water, snow, ice and climate. A 1996 review reported that funding constraints prevented a fixed publication schedule and encouraged a shift to books. Statens kartverk published Health (1996), Sports (1997) and Vegetation (1998); an English Vegetation volume followed in 1999 under the Norwegian Mapping Authority imprint. Health mapped health conditions and services, Sports treated sports and outdoor recreation, and Vegetation documented natural conditions and vegetation patterns. In his 1998 retrospective, Jens Christian Hansen criticized weaknesses in organization, funding and editorial work and judged the project’s results disappointing.