La deuxième édition de l'Atlas de Finlande: premier article

Summary

This article reviews the second edition of the *Atlas of Finland*, published in 1910 by the Geographical Society of Finland. This edition appeared eleven years after the first edition (1899) and was collectively edited by the Geographical Society, comprising one atlas volume and two text volumes, totaling approximately 1,500 pages. The author, J. Poirot, notes that the new edition shows marked progress over the initial one: the number of maps has increased substantially, the textual content has expanded to three times its original length, and new sections on oceanography and agricultural statistics have been added, while existing chapters such as population statistics have been enlarged and deepened. Despite the work's overall coherence, the author contends that this excellent series of monographs does not constitute a comprehensive geography of Finland; for a truly integrated geographical synthesis, further effort remains necessary. The main body of the article focuses on summarizing findings in physical geography. From the contour maps, Finland, apart from northern Lapland, appears as a vast plain gently sloping toward the sea, yet the actual terrain is marked by frequent undulations, with hills, lakes, and sinuous lake shores forming a typical landscape, while the southwestern archipelago presents a different aspect. Geologically, Finland consists almost entirely of Precambrian ancient rock formations, deeply influenced by Quaternary glaciation. The flow and erosion of the Fennoscandian ice sheet deepened depressions formed during the Tertiary period, explaining the morphology of lake basins. The latter part of the article discusses biogeography. Vegetation progresses from south to north through the oak zone, the boreal coniferous forest zone (spruce, pine), the birch zone, and the alpine and tundra belts of Lapland. Forests cover 91% of the land area, with the main tree species being Scots pine, Norway spruce, and birch.