Regional Atlases: Tendencies of Development Subject Matters of the Maps on Natural Conditions and Resources

Summary

This study, prepared under the auspices of the International Geographical Union Commission on National Atlases, reviews the historical evolution and contemporary development of integrated regional atlases and proposes principles for improving maps of natural conditions and resources. Responding to the rapid expansion of regional atlas production and to growing international interest in cartography as an instrument of economic planning, the work draws on Soviet compilation experience while comparing representative atlases from the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, Poland, France, the United States, Canada, and the USSR. It traces regional atlases from early practical publications, such as the 1914 Atlas of Asiatic Russia, through the comprehensive atlases produced during the 1930s and later specialized or multipurpose projects. These examples show that regional atlases arose in response to administrative reorganization, settlement, resource exploitation, economic development, transportation planning, and the need to overcome regional disparities. The study stresses their particular value for less-developed territories, where systematic cartographic information can support the assessment, planning, and management of natural and economic potential. A major section develops a structured program for representing natural conditions and resources. It covers introductory reference maps; the Earth’s crust and mineral wealth; geophysical conditions; relief; climate; surface waters; congelation and modern glaciation; soils and land resources; vegetation; wildlife; and natural regionalization and integrated evaluation. Maps should progress from analytical representations of individual phenomena to synthetic and evaluative products that reveal relationships, practical significance, and suitability for economic use. The atlas is therefore conceived not merely as a collection of independent maps but as an internally coherent system serving scientific analysis and applied decision-making. To ensure unity, comparability, and timely production, the study advocates parallel compilation of thematic maps rather than a rigid sequential workflow, while requiring relief to be represented accurately at an early stage. Coordination must continue throughout program design, editing, and compilation. Boundaries and spatial units on geological, geomorphological, soil, vegetation, hydrological, and other maps should be reconciled through analysis of causal relationships and observable terrain features, without artificially forcing distinct phenomena into identical outlines. Particular care is required for gradual transitions, dispersed distributions, displaced boundaries, nested units, and areas where units taper or interpenetrate. Topographic maps and aerial photographs can assist localization when relationships with relief are strong; where they are weak, cartographers should emphasize broad distributional regularities rather than spurious detail. Overall, the work presents regional atlases as integrated scientific and planning instruments and offers experience-based guidance—not universally binding prescriptions—for their subject structure, editorial organization, cartographic consistency, and practical evaluation of regional natural resources.