Atlases: Definitions and Characteristics

Atlases are systematic collections of topographic and/or thematic maps with selected scales for a dedicated region and a dedicated goal.
[Hake et al. 2002; Kraak and Ormeling 2010]

An atlas is a set of targeted compiled maps systematically organized according to the thematic content, the spatial extent and temporal viewpoint and assembled in a unified map language.
[Voženilek 2015]

An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a map of Earth or a region of Earth.
[Wikipedia authors 2016]

An Atlas is a (curated) collection of spatial data with thematic and spatial focal points visualised with different means.
[Losang 2019]

One of the main tasks of an atlas is to enable comparisons between maps in order to recognise correlations between them.
[Hruby 2015]

An atlas is a map book, i.e. a collection of maps. In a world atlas, you can find every region of the world on one of the many maps.
[An explanation for school children by Westermann, School atlas publishers, 2006]