Economic Cartography

the branch of cartography that is associated with economic geography and with national economic activity. Economic cartography deals with the theory, techniques, and practice of compiling and using economic maps and atlases.

In the USSR, economic cartography was developed in the early 1930’s in connection with the increased need for economic maps owing to the rapid development of the republic and regional economies and of the various sectors of the national economy. Such maps were also required to illustrate the achievements of the Soviet economy and for the study of economic geography in educational institutions. Major contributions to the development of economic cartography were made by N. N. Baranskii, A. I. Preobrazhenskii, M. I. Nikishov, and V. P. Korovitsyn.

The evolution of contemporary economic cartography is associated with the growth of theoretical and systematic research in economic geography and cartography, with the use of the achievements of the scientific and technological revolution to solve the problems of planning and forecasting the development of productive forces, and with the formation of territorial-production complexes. It is also related to the fulfillment of long-term economic programs, the combination of sectoral and territorial management of production, and the development of both regional planning and environmental protection. (SeeCARTOGRAPHY.)