The state of mapping in the European Republics of the former Soviet Union

Since the emergence of newly independent states from the former Soviet Union, there has been a much more liberal approach to the publication of maps. Types and scales of maps which had formerly only been available to the military or planners are now being freely sold to the general public and to foreigners. Freed from the straitjacket of military requirements and censorship, a number of the former Soviet republics are also producing a much wider range of map types. This paper explores both the types of maps produced in the former Soviet republics and those being produced under the new, sometimes more liberal regimes.