The national atlases of Finland: The fifth edition, its background and structure

The first edition of Atlas of Finland was published in 1899, and since then four more editions have appeared, the fifth started in 1977. The two first editions (the second appeared in 1910) were published in order to define the identity of the nation during a time of Russian political opression and a nationalistic awakening. During the same period, in 1901 J. Gebhard published a social-statistical atlas of Finland, likewise a work of scholarly pioneering. The third edition of Atlas of Finland appeared in 1925, here the geographical analysis was much enhanced thanks to the editorial work of J.G. Granö. At this time Finland was still predominately an agrarian state, however, when the forth edition of the Finnish national atlas was published in 1960, the wind of change had set in. Prof. Leo Aario was the leader of this edition, where the deep changes after WW II were documentated,3also the beginning of the rapi d industrialization of the country.