THE NATIONAL ATLAS OF RUSSIA. VOLUME 1 “GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TERRITORY”

A.N. Krajukhin, G.V. Pozdnjak, N.V. Smurova, N.N. Polunkina, V.V. Sveshnikov, V.I. Ryabchikova, S.V. Krivov

PKO “Cartography”

info@atkar.ru

The Volume 1 of the National Atlas of Russia is an information dealing with cartographic and scientific-referential publication for experts from different branches of science, industry and culture, officers of the State machinery, teachers and students of academy and high school as well as for th population in our country and abroad.

The Volume 1 of the National Atlas of Russia is published in accordance to the assignment of the Government of the Russian Federation.

The Volume 1 contains 495 pages of maps and written material grouped into six sections: Introduction; Formation, exploration and mapping of the Russian territory; Federative arrangement of Russia; Geographical regions and seas, surrounding the territory of Russia; Reference data; Index of geographical names.

The “Introduction” section contains the information on organizations and persons, participating in the Volume creation, a physical map of Russia and a political map of the world.

The process of the Russian territory formation is depicted in the section “Formation, exploration and mapping of the Russian territory”from ancient times to our days. Results of exploration by discovers of hitherto unknown lands, manufacturers, travelers, scientists and experts are reflected in maps of the section. The section is concluded with the chronology of the most important events, which led to changes of the country’s territory and its study, of the most important researches (expeditionary and stationary) and dates of creation the substantial cartographic works.

According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the contemporary, federative arrangements of the Russian Federation and administrative-territorial region for every one of its subjects are represented in the section “Federative arrangement of Russia” with the help of these maps using reference data and illustrative material (emblems and flags of the Russian Federation subjects).

In the section “Geographical regions and seas, surrounding the territory of Russia” geographical maps of Russia as a whole, of large geographical regions and areas composing them, of individual local territories and also seas, surrounding the Russian territory, are presented. The section is opened by the general geographical chart of Russia and consists of three subsections: The European part of Russia; The Asian part of Russia; The Russian sector of Arctic. Each subsection contains general geographical map of a region on 1:7 500 000–1:10 000 000 scales; maps on 1:2 500 000 scale, which cover all Russian territory; maps of larger scales (1:1 000 000 and 1:500 000) for individual territories; maps of seas, surrounding the territory of Russia, and space images. Space images are accompanied with annotations and address maps, placed in the same page as the picture itself.

The section “Reference data” includes written material, tables, thematic maps, which provide general information about Russia: its nature, natural resources, population, economy, science and culture. Thematical maps of the section characterize physic- geographical zoning of the country, subsurface geology, climate, soils, vegetation, strictly secured natural territories, population (quantity, national and confessional structure), basic kinds of natural resources (mineral and fuel, land, forest) and economy.

The “Index of geographical names” contains all names of geographical objects which are placed in maps of the Volume and is formed in Russian alphabetical order.

The Volume 1 of the National Atlas of Russia is prepared in two kinds: as a book and as a CD-ROM.