Through the Pages of the Geographic Atlas of Yugoslavia

This article critically reviews the 1962 Geographical Atlas of Yugoslavia, a cartographic work that does not fit conventional classifications. Combining features of a scientific reference atlas, a general geographical handbook, and a collection of thematic maps, it was designed for a broad public audience. The review examines its structure, map organization, thematic coverage, graphic design, and methodological limitations. The atlas contains an illustrated 80-page geographical essay, a political and economic survey exceeding 50 pages, 37 general maps at a uniform scale of 1:500,000, 64 thematic maps, and an index of more than 10,000 place names. Its general maps divide Yugoslavia into 37 equal graticule-based sections without preserving natural, economic, or administrative units; thematic maps occupy the intervening pages and generally depict the country as a whole. Their subjects include geology, climate, vegetation, population, agriculture, industry, energy, transportation, tourism, and the Adriatic Sea. Particularly informative examples concern regional differences in natural population growth, household size, agricultural specialization, wheat and maize production, railway development, and coastal tourism. The author commends the atlas’s typography, photographs, visual presentation, extensive geographical information, and practical use of differently colored paper to distinguish sections. Several weaknesses are nevertheless identified: the absence of soil and fauna maps, omission of scales and coordinate grids from most thematic maps, inconsistent statistical reference years, and nonuniform quantitative symbols on related livestock maps. The atlas also lacks a table of contents. Overall, the work is interpreted as an innovative experiment in popular cartography. Although methodological consistency and thematic completeness were partly sacrificed, its accessible organization and rich combination of textual, statistical, photographic, and cartographic materials demonstrate how Yugoslav geographers and cartographers sought new ways to communicate national geography to a mass readership.