Plenary Session of the Commission on National Atlases of the International Geographical Union, 7-12 September, 1962, Budapest

Summary

This volume records the plenary session of the International Geographical Union’s Commission on National Atlases, held in Budapest from 7 to 12 September 1962, together with the associated Exhibition of National Atlases. Bringing together commission members, corresponding members, cartographers, geographers, government officials, and atlas editors from Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America, the meeting reviewed the rapid expansion of national and regional atlas production since the Commission’s establishment in 1956. The opening addresses emphasize that national atlases had become more than specialized cartographic publications: they were increasingly important instruments for scientific research, economic planning, resource assessment, education, public administration, and international understanding. Reports from the United States, Austria, India, Poland, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Morocco, Bulgaria, Hungary, the Soviet Union, Belgium, Spain, and Great Britain describe atlases already published or under preparation, their institutional organization, editorial principles, thematic scope, source materials, scales, production methods, and progress. Comparative contributions also examine state, provincial, and regional atlases in the United States, Canada, and the Federal Republic of Germany. Across these case studies, the proceedings identify major methodological issues: the selection and coordination of physical, demographic, economic, and cultural themes; the geographical conception of industrial maps; the representation of population and industry; the harmonization of legends and symbols; procedures for revision and continuous updating; and the relationship between comprehensive national atlases and more detailed regional works. Particular attention is given to contemporary technological change, including the transition from manual compilation to automatic plotting of thematic maps, as well as to the need for reliable statistics, comparable classifications, and close cooperation among geographers, cartographers, statistical agencies, academies, and state surveying organizations. Broader discussions assess current trends in atlas development, the future responsibilities of the Commission, the preparation of a revised international bibliography of national atlases, and the significance of the International 1:1,000,000 Map of the World. The concluding resolutions seek to strengthen international exchange, promote common professional standards without erasing national particularities, improve accessibility and comparability, and encourage the regular modernization of atlas content. A catalogue of the Budapest exhibition documents a wide range of national, regional, economic, planning, census, and resource atlases from numerous countries, demonstrating both the global diffusion of atlas-making and the diversity of its institutional and cartographic traditions. Overall, the volume presents national atlases as integrated syntheses of territorial knowledge and as practical foundations for planning and development, while defining international collaboration, methodological refinement, and technological innovation as central tasks for their future advancement.