Soil maps in national and specialized atlases (analytical review)

An analysis of soil maps, base and soil-related ones, in the national and special soil atlases published in the last 25–30 years was performed. These were atlases of thirty countries, few ecological atlases and soil atlases of Europe, Africa, Latin America, Azerbaijan, and Russia. All atlases contain base maps, complementary maps of soil properties and regimes, as well as maps compiled for agricultural and ecological purposes. Maps in the national atlases are more diverse than in the other two groups of atlases, and their sets reflect the nature of the country. The integrity of all these maps is a valuable argument in favor of the importance of soil science and provides a comprehensive insight into the ecological functions and properties of soils.