"GEOGRAPHICAL ATLAS OF THE BELGOROD REGION: NATURE, SOCIETY, ECONOMY" AS AN INFORMATION BASIS FOR IMPLEMENTING THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT POLICY OF THE REGION
The article discusses the issue of creating an updated regional atlas of the Belgorod region -«Geographic atlas: nature, society, economy». The cartographic work is an integral result of a deep analysis of modern natural conditions and resources, the economy and the population of the Belgorod region. The Atlas provides relevant geographic information, which made it possible to make the regional atlas one of the main tools of the information and educational environment, as well as a tool in the implementation of the sustainable development policy of the region. The Geographic Atlas: Nature, Society, Economy was created by a team of scientists from the Institute of Earth Sciences of the Belgorod State National Research University with the involvement of specialized specialists with the financial support of the Russian Geographical Society. The article describes in detail the stages of creating an atlas: information-analytical accumulative; preparatory cartographic; cartographic; design; publishing. The structure of the regional atlas is given. All maps in the atlas are combined into 4 sections: «Introductory Section», «Nature», «Population»,«Economy», they are consistent and complement each other. A number of thematic maps, placed in the Atlas, were built for the Belgorod Region for the first time. The atlas contains 76 thematic maps built in the ArcGIS 10.4.1 environment. When creating atlas maps, modern techniques and methods of geoinformation mapping were applied.The published «Geographic Atlas of the Belgorod Region: Nature, Society, Economy» is both a scientific work and an educational reference manual, and is intended for a wide range of users: from school and university students to highly specialized specialists of various levels.