Atlas of the USSR

Summary

This article critically reviews the Atlas of the USSR, compiled by the Soviet Main Administration of Geodesy and Cartography and published in 1962. It evaluates the atlas’s organization, cartographic methods, informational value, and broader significance as a model of regional atlas design. The 191-page volume comprises three principal components: geographical reference maps, thematic maps of natural conditions, and economic maps. The geographical section presents the Soviet Union by major administrative units at comparatively large scales, combining layered elevation tints, dense contouring, hydrography, settlements, transport networks, boundaries, and an extensive register of approximately 25,000 place names. These maps provide unusually rich topographic and regional detail, although excessive labeling in densely settled areas sometimes reduces legibility. The natural-environment section contains specialist maps of geology, tectonics, mineral resources, geomorphology, climate, hydrology, glaciation, permafrost, soils, vegetation, forests, and zoogeography. Their nationwide coverage offers effective synoptic views of the USSR’s pronounced zonal diversity, but the high level of abstraction and the termination of thematic information at the state boundary make interpretation difficult, particularly for nonspecialists. The substantially larger economic section includes maps of ethnic groups, population density, transport, aviation, industry, agriculture, and major economic regions, supplemented by numerous statistical diagrams. Industrial, mining, and transport locations are represented with considerable sectoral detail, whereas the size and internal structure of industrial centers remain schematic. Agricultural land use is shown through broad color combinations without explicit thresholds or adequate quantitative data, and symbols for crops often indicate only vague areas of occurrence. The review concludes that the atlas introduces no fundamentally new techniques within individual map categories, but its integration of large-scale geographical reference maps with comprehensive natural and economic thematic coverage constitutes an important new type of regional atlas, distinct from expensive national atlases dominated by thematic series. Its graphic design, color treatment, practical utility, and low price are praised, despite occasional registration errors. Major weaknesses are the absence of an explanatory text discussing representation principles and sources, the resulting difficulty of interpreting complex economic maps, and the limited print run of 25,000 copies. Overall, the atlas is judged a valuable reference work and a useful basis for methodological discussion, with particular relevance as a possible model for a future regional atlas of the German Democratic Republic.