The National Economic Atlas of China. Including Four Map Notes (National Atlas Series)

Since 1978 China has made remarkable economic progress with the average rate of growth exceeding 9% per year. The National Economic Atlas of China is the most comprehensive and detailed picture of this achievement. It is based on the largest and most far-reaching investigations ever conducted at the national level in China including the Industrial Census of 1985 and the Third and Fourth Population Censuses of 1982 and 1990. This extensive collection of data is presented in map and text form. The 265 full-color maps and text have been divided into eleven topics: geographical and administrative background; resources; population; general economy; agriculture; industry; communications; building, urban construction, and environmental protection; commerce, foreign trade, tourism and finance; education, scientific research, culture, sports, and health; and the regional comprehensive economy of each of China's provinces and major cities. The maps illustrate over 500 socioeconomic indicators at the country and city level, revealing the quantitative and qualitative aspects of China's socioeconomic growth. The text supplements and complements the maps by providing a description and analysis of each major topic, incorporating developments through 1990. This atlas offers the clearest and most comprehensive graphic picture of China ever, and makes an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the vast economic and social changes that have taken place.

This atlas offers 265 maps and copious text regarding the resources, population, and economy of the People's Republic of China. As a joint effort led by the Institute of Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the State Planning Committee, with the translation executed in Hong Kong, this work complements the National Agricultural Atlas (Guoji Tushu Chubanshe, 1989) and the Population Atlas (Oxford Univ. Pr., 1987). In fact, the population information is more accurate than that found in the Population Atlas because this atlas uses data from the most recent population census (1990). The quality of printing, paper, color, and binding are all high, a result in part of the use of computer-assisted cartography in the production of the atlas. The maps are predominantly national in coverage, though the last 30-odd maps are of provincial-level economy. At the core of the atlas are 84 maps on industry. Accompanying the atlas are four booklets of "Notes to the Maps," which, in narrative form, analyze the information found on the maps, update or antedate statistical data, provide tables and explanatory detail, and furnish the sources of data. There are some drawbacks to the design of this atlas: the density of overlapping symbols sometimes make it difficult to pinpoint a certain location, and the tight binding and thick paper result in a spinal fold that swallows a portion of all but a few of the double-page maps. Some of the color gradations are so subtle as to blur distinctions. This is an atlas for specialists by virtue of technical terminology used for cartographic, botanical, mineral, and industrial content; moreover, only Sinologists will easily make the shift from pinyin to Wade-Giles romanization found in the map to Taiwan. Nevertheless, this is a most comprehensive and monumental atlas whose smallest detail can yield significant insights into the Chinese economy and culture. For academic collections.
D.E. Perushek, Univ. of Tennessee Libs., Knoxville
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.