The World Atlas () is the Soviet and later Russian created and produced

atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...

of the world.

Predecessors

Initially Russian

cartography Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

simply reproduced maps from other countries. An example of such the ''Atlas Marksa, produced in 1905'', was merely a translation of the German ''Neuer Handatlas'' by

Lucas Debes Lucas Jacobsøn Debes (1623 in Stubbekøbing – 1675) was a Danish priest, topographer and celebrated writer about the Faroe Islands. He wrote the first book about the Faroes, which was printed (and translated into English and German) and dr ...

. During the interwar period, the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

project ''Bolshoi Sovietskii Atlas Mira'', was produced. This was intended to be the most comprehensive atlas of modern times, remained, however, incomplete due to

The Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising ...

; only two out of three planned volumes were published in 1937 and 1939. With the end of the war, along with the relative stability within the Soviet Union during the 1950s, The ''Atlas Mira'' (1st Russian edition, 1954) was able to be produced and included with some 200,000 named locations. This would be a significant milestone and would be followed by an English edition a decade later (''The World Atlas'', 2nd ed., 1967).

Editions

First Edition

The first edition was published in 1954, in two volumes. The first volume contains 283 pages of

maps A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...

; the second volume is a geographical index containing 205,000 entries of geographical features. On the first page of the atlas is a vignette with a world map inside a five-pointed star, prominently depicting the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Thereafter is the title page, on the reverse side the decision of the

Council of Ministers of the USSR The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Совет министров СССР, r=Sovet Ministrov SSSR, p=sɐˈvʲet mʲɪˈnʲistrəf ˌɛsˌɛsˌɛsˈɛr), sometimes abbreviated as Sovmin or referred to as the ...

to publish the atlas, a page with the names of the editorial board, a page with the other editors, a preface of two pages and the table of contents in two pages. Within the section containing maps, the first two pages contain a key to map symbols — also given as a separate sheet. Thereafter are the 283 pages with maps and finally a page with more names of collaborators, technical information and at the end the number of copies printed (25,000). Many maps are on a double page, with a total width of 63 cm. The reverse side of the left-hand page which comes first in leafing through atlas — the 'title side' — usually has a scheme with the current map and the adjacent sheets. A map is printed on the reverse side of almost all right-hand pages. Some maps are even wider than 63 cm and therefore have a foldout; see the table of contents. The index, a separate volume, has a title page, a preface of two pages, a page on how to use the index, and a page with the abbreviations used. Thereafter is the actual index of 545 pages. In the end are 14 pages with translations of non-Russian geographical terms and words that occur in place names. After the key to map symbols the map section has 5 pages of world maps, 3 pages with historical maps, 76 pages with maps of the Soviet Union in 53 pages with maps of

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

— meaning in this case the part of Europe that is outside the Soviet Union. The non-Soviet part of Asia — here also named 'foreign Asia' — covers 53 pages, Africa 18,

The Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.'' Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sin ...

57 and Australia-Oceania 12. In the end are 6 pages with maps of the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

and the Polar regions. See also the list of map names in

transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → and → the digraph , Cyrillic → , Armenian → or L ...

and translation. Most sections start with a physical map — with contour lines and hypsometric coloring — a political map and a map of the communications in the region in question. The rest of each section consists of physical maps at a larger scale; see the list of maps, inset maps and scale. On the reverse sides of many right-hand pages are enlargements of regions on the 'main map'. Contrary to the main maps, on these maps the relief is often indicated with shading, which gives a more spatial effect. In the section on the Soviet Union each

Union Republic In the Soviet Union, a Union Republic () or unofficially a Republic of the USSR was a constituent federated political entity with a system of government called a Soviet republic, which was officially defined in the 1977 constitution as "a ...

has a map of its administrative subdivision in political coloring. A political map is sometimes also given for other regions. On some maps the forests are indicated; details can be found in the list of types of maps. The size of the atlas is considerable and so is the number of maps. Many regions are therefore depicted in detail, often at a scale of 1:5,000,000, 1:2,500,000 or 1:1,250,000. This has been done in particular for the Soviet Union itself and the 'friendly' states in the world —

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

— but also for Western Europe and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. These detailed maps are missing for

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. The environs of metropoles are sometimes given in (inset) maps at a scale of 1:250,000. Curiously, for the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and China, these city maps are absent. In the preface (see also the English translation), account is given of the composition of the atlas. There is also an overview and account of the map projections used in the atlas.

Second Edition

The second edition was published in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

in 1967 by the Chief Directorate of Geodesy and Cartography under the Council of Ministers of the USSR (GUGK; ). It was published simultaneously in Russian and English in 25,000 copies and was priced at 42 Rbls. Special cartographic paper and special cartographic offset ink were used. The Atlas was dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

. The Atlas has a full 250 pages of colour maps, majority of them physical, the index being a separate book, comprising some 200,000 entries. The size of the Atlas is . The maps in the Atlas are arranged in groups starting with general world maps, maps of the

and maps of the continents. The world maps are in the 1:50,000,000 scale. The Soviet Union is treated basically as a separate continent with its own physical, political, transportation and time zone maps. It is mentioned in the preface that the number of the maps of the Soviet Union is decreased compared to the previous edition, because of the interim publishing of a separate atlas specifically dedicated to the Soviet Union. For each continent, there is a general physical map as an introduction (1:10,000,000 to 1:25,000,000), followed by political and communications maps. This is followed by a number of general regional maps (1:1,500,000 to 1:750,000) and supplemented for important areas by large scale maps (1:250,000 to 1:750,000). 18 different colours are used from deep blue for the ocean deeps to dark brown and white for the highest mountains and glaciers. Relief shading is used for delineating relief along with contour lines. All scales are metric. Tint for elevation is predominately used in larger scale maps: 1:1,500,000 and higher. The shadows and colours combined give an almost stereo impression, the relief popping up out of the pages. Many major cities in the world are shown on separate maps or insets, typically in 1:250,000 scale as well as important areas like the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, along with detailed maps of small islands in the world oceans.

Third edition

The third edition was made in 1999 by the Federal Service of

Geodesy Geodesy or geodetics is the science of measuring and representing the Figure of the Earth, geometry, Gravity of Earth, gravity, and Earth's rotation, spatial orientation of the Earth in Relative change, temporally varying Three-dimensional spac ...

and Cartography of Russia. As a revised and updated world atlas since it first published in 1954, this atlas which combined maps and index into one volume. This atlas in third edition bringing each featured landscape to life with detailed terrain models and color schemes and offering maps of unsurpassed quality, this atlas features the main atlas, and an easy-to-reference index of all 240,000 place names. All maps feature a full double-page spread, with continents broken down into 286 pages of carefully selected maps.

External links

Scan of the second English edition (1967)
on David Rumsey Map Collection *