International cooperation in cartography: the inter African CCTA/CSA Committee for the compilation of maps

· ^-

UNITED NATIONS

ECONOM I C' AND

SOCIAL COUNCIL

fi~i~D ~~EI$8i~11

E/CN.14/CART~6

E/cl NF.43/36 20 June 1963 ENGLI:3H

(;ri ginal : FRENCH

UNITED NATIONS REGIONAL CARTOGRAPHIC CONFERENCE FOR AFRICA

Nairobi (Kenya), 1-13 July 1963

Provisional agenda item 10

,

^l

INTERNATIONAL CO-0PEHATION IN CARTOGRAPHY- THE INTER-AFRICAN CC TA/CSA COI~jKITTEE

FOR THE COMPILATION OF I~S

(Document submi tted by the CCTA/CSA)

63-1825

E/cN•

14/9ART/36, ' E/C0NF·43/36' .'.:

INTERNATIONAL ~O-OP~!lA T~0~:_{I~ ,~~}TOGRAPHY-

~' INTER-AFRICAN CCTA/CSA, CQ1'iMITTEE ,,FOR ,THE CQr,1PILATION OF IvIAPS

'...,.~

-', '

As long ago as 1949, the Johannesburg African Scientiffo

ci~hfe~enoe

turned its attention ,to e~~IJ:lin.i~g:t~,: ,what ejc'tent it might be possible to ,harmonise or _st~dardize certain cartogra~hiodata (ellipsoid, the system

of pro'jection to be adopted, the defini tioh of ehe et lines,'s ca l e s , oonventional signs, and transcription of toponymy).

At i til request, an.J.nve,ntory of the ,t y pe s of maps existing in Africa was

'oompi l e a1{'and ' t hen revised, added to and

amended~

^following

^a.

^{meetin of}

's pe oi a l i s t s in car.tography and topographical 'surve y s held at Bukavu in September 19'53•

This important meeting, which brought together the vast' majority of the re ~e~e,py"a:,*:l,Ve s" of thbs~,.n:a,~~o.pB :t;hat. were ,',at the time', responsibl:e' for oartographio policy in Af:rica scu'th of''t he SaharaJ( l'aid

do~' t~~'.~ot;lrse

^of

action to' befbllowed in order to'satisfy the general wish expressed' in 1949 by theConferenoe, already mentioned.

In particular, the' following recommendations were made:

that the aim should ,be to use, for new maps, the. . ,"; . .

'.

~odified Clarke ~llipsOid

of 1~8~, which had already"been used f()r,the great~r pa~"j; of,Afrioa;

adoption of the UTM projection (Universal ,Tr.ansve rse Me~cator ) in covering

,8: lup.e .wi dt h of ,6 lit;l~ees for me(iium-Bcale,:t~rrestrialm~ps;

'a dop t i on'of the sheet-line system' of the Intertl'ationa,l ·Map'o f th World, or else'of i tS'pro'jection; 'for scales'of 1: '1,000,000" t:500=,000, :- d

'1 t 250 , oOO';' 'i n the case of l'arger scales, retention',of, the ou'stom 'o

utilizoing, as 't he limits of map-sheets', .meridians an'd'pa r a l l e l s of latitude in round,'figures corresponding with' degrees o'r 'f r a ot i on's o'f degree ;

CSA,Publioation 'No'.4, April 1953. ,:;.

CCTA/CSA Publications Nos.15 and ~7 ',19-55.

That is to say the nations whose territories straddle or are situat d south of lat! tude 20⁰ north.

E/cN• 14/CART/36 E!CONF.43/36 Page 2

generalization of the use of metric scales, such as 1,:100,000 and 1:50,000, rather than scales expressed in inches to the mile or in miles to the inch; retention of freedom of choice between soales of 1:200,000 or 1:250,000, of 1:125,000 or 1:100,000, and of 1:25,000 or

1~20,OOOf

the undertaking of a review of oonventional signs used on their maps

by the ,di f f e r en t oountr~es oonoerned, in order to try, as far as possible, to aohieve uniformity. , This review was entrusted to the :r:epresentative of Franoe;

:: : .

, . .respect,.to .be observed in questions of tOJ?onymy, on general maps published

..by a given oountry and therefore in the language 'of that oO,unti-y, for the

..spelling use d by the oountry represented. The issuing oount;Y is

orii

^y

. . ' : " . 1,',"

entitled to show in braokets the translation of a name into its own languageJ

as ,regards units of measurement, freedom of ohoice as between metres or kilometres and the oorresponding British units of measurementf neverthe-

. . ""l; ,',

l~ss,.adoption of the UTM proj~otion shou~d lead ~o unifo~mity of 'the

' . ... . ..^,

measuring grid, whioh should be shown ,in kilometres. Besides this, in ...:^....; ' .

maps on scales of less than or equal to 1:200,000, and in order to facilitate international use, it was recommended that a double Beale of distances should be .used, showing.both,miles and kilome:tres. ' For t~e

Bame reason, heights adopted as the limits of layer tints, should be accompanied by a conversion table in me~res.

Although it took place as much as ten years ago,' it would,be Lrapo s sd hl.e to exaggerate the 1myortanoe of this.Bukavu ~eeting, where emminent cartographic

.. .,..

specialists, convened on the initiatiVe of a non-political scientific council, succeeded in f~aming, by common consent, a sort of "Cartographfc"Charter" for Africa south,of the Sa~ara, which laid down the aims to be attained, so as to harmonize oartographic standards in such a way as to progress 'towards a system of oartography, as uniform and continuous as possible, for the part of the African continent coming under their jurisdiction, thus facilita~ing'interna­

tional use of the documents produced.

J

E!CN.14!CART/36, E!CONF.43/36 . Page 3

,,:':' ' ," ,:.,(!The:;,:BUicavu':meeti~:g dfd:not, ho'ws'wr; cOti"f:tne '1teel£' 'to' this -question.

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^ihe

~do~omi'~ '

^side,

'~:t·~, ~~'~ ;

^the

atten-ti6ri :o~-.'~irrb~ 'r , :G6~rnme~tl!l ,

^{..·t o}

the

~gent '~~~stion ~1

^{briri'ging into}

Play '~'ci pi{t~ing ' :~·{th:e

d1sposalbf'

th~ t~pographi~a.l ~;' o~;t~graphic s~rvi~es ~d,~qu~te ' re '~;ur6~Etio'

^enable'them

• _ ". ~ • •" . t ••' :. ' .\ l:,t . ' • _ .: ••~: ^{• :." • '.' .:} 1 : :.. ' .

't o _{cO~Pil~ 'wi thin' the '~e sire d'spac e} of time - _{-tha~'i s} to say, in aooordance

l ' ... . . ;:'::' I" , · . : . ' . , : ': • ; I . . ' ..' " : , .

wi th systematic pre-arranged programming - those maps; the--l a'ck of" whiCh"

threatened to delay the

p~t~ing

^{in hand of}

n~er~tiB d~Velbp~~~t

^{plans or}

projeots'. " ^{....~ .'}- ^-

':O~::th~ s~ientific side~ ~t put forward' ~u~gestion~' regardin'g 't he 'o r de r 'of 'prior! ty 't o' be"6bser~ed: ^{in 't he} triangw:~tion'w6rl/thJ't ~,~' ;tb"b~' undet-t a k en ,

an d re commended the extens ion

Y

and connexf on be twe en State

s ' oi

^the

_'~i .

^eady

existing works of, prec'ise levelling; so' as'I-to 'ena.bl e ',a general adjustm nt of networks to be made for the whole €if the African· con'tmen:t'. lot also , urned

,~ :t s attention to: the devel.opment of physioal ocean~grp.p,l;lical, ,:w9,rk ~lon the

.. .•• • • . - .: ~ . .-•• . : .' ,I.~...• •

.ee a a te of thol;ler ,t e r r i t,ories .,~,om i~g ~der: ~ t~. ~ur~sdi,cti~m. ','

" Finally,'as:'regai-ds topi"cal maps,' speed £1 o proVi. sions 'we:r-e "Worke-d!out at Buka'vu: 1"9garding':t he' defird. tioh of standards:governing their''compi'l ation

:'.(soa.le,'pr a -je'c't i on j and'.sheet-line:syatemⁱ and _th~ uti11:za tion'::by.::oompil e r s

and ~ublishera" of these' topioa.l maps, and of base mapa ,for:,topographic 1 or general maps iasued:btr,:the produ-ci:ng, services, which'shoul d undertake to provide'them at'a'l"easonable, price. ^{r; :}

Lastly, the J3ukavu meeting recommerid~d't he setting ~p of'a pe.tiQ-~e~1;

ooinmi

tte't:l of oartographic'_e~perts'to' nialnta1:m a perinanen t.:liaison 'respecting 'a.1 1 :ciJ.rtograPhi c questions, both by cor-r-espondence and b;V,: the;"J:~6hdri~ ^bf

reports and programmes, tan d likewise by hol'din'g perio4tc'al'meetings~ ,

j)

In particular, with a view to the developmen't of the,'gravi:irietrio'n :j;work, whioh,:h¥ ,already z-eached an .a dvan ce d stag~ in Fren~h,.an d ,~eI'gi a.n

tl;l,rritor·;J.el:3' and in'SouthA:ti.'ica, ,t he..exten,j3!on of·:',whJ:clI':wa:s,',however, limited in other areas by the absence of preoision leVallfng.

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E/cNo 14/CART/36 E!CONF.43/36 Page

4

~omthis resolution there emerged the "Carnt

te"

oonsul tatif interafricain sur _le~ oartes et lesserVices topographiguee!1 _~Inter,:,""African Consui tati ve Comm~.~tee on Maps and lJ'opographic Services) which held. _~ts first meeting in London in August..1955,_. and met again in Capetown_{, "} in._.November_{. .} 1957, having

9~~ged.its ti Ue .to ~l Comi te interafricain pour.lt ~tablissement des cartes at

., . - . . ~.'.

relevds topographigues" (Inter-African Committe!3 :for.the Compilation of Maps and

Top~graphical $~rveys),

^aqQ

dr~w

^{up its}

statute~

^{. .}

Two further meetings have been held since then, one at Lisbon'in April

1960, and th~9ther at Salisbury in June 1962, the lat~e~ h~ying

.

^{. '.} been preceded .'~y ~ ,disoussion on .the develo:ping countries' requirE;lmentsfo;r_. .. .^' m~p~.... and topogra-.

phi cal surveys.

;,'Ini..the course of these various me-atings,·.the following matte'rs'were:

. reviewed, discussed or put into effecte

As regards topi'cal ~artography, the ':prepa~ation of stand.l'ird'base maps on scales of 1:5,ooo,6oo:(1~5M.), ^1:10Mq 1:15Me, 1;'30M:, desigiied for v~i-ious

topical Atlases (climatologioal, botanical or'the distribution;of ,ve c t o r s of diseases), or for various -t opi ca l maps 'pedological, population density,.v '

distributiop ·of Quelea birds, etc.), ..and resulting from various.jOinifrojects .

;decidedupon by the ·CC TA/CSA , was brought to a successful concluSion2

, by the South African Government. The compilation of a certain number of these

specialized maps by the specialists concerned:has, furthermore', ei thar been c<?D!pleted or is nearing completion._. .... ,

~. ~.

.- : Ment.i'on should also be made":Q;f: a"magn et i c.-map .s ubmi tted to tbIe m6E';'ting

at the 'Ca p e , the editio~so'!: ·\·~hich have .-to 'be pe:!:'iodically'corrected'up.to date in step with the 'progress'achieved'in work on .ma gne t i sm.. ,. <,-

c..

The oharacteristics of. these base ·~.~p's are e:x:pl:i,6itiys~-P"£9~ih ^{in a} special paper' su1?niitted,'un de r ' i t.em;:10 of the _ag~n,ga'(fn·t~rn~tional maps).

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CCTA/CSA Document (57) ...:. 5.

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E/cN•

14/CART/36,"'\

E!CONF.43/36··:· .. \'. Page 5

I. . .

In topographical or general non-topioal oartography, a nUmber of new

,' . ;. I) ; . . . ,'

meaaures were'likewise introduced:

" . '

a projeot to s tandaz-dd ae the "main" conventional signs, ,con cei ve d

~.^{.... •:.. . " . !. ." . . ' . "} ~ ^.

.in the spirit of E~vu,.was proposed by France and accepted at the

Li~bo~~m~~ting(1960) ~or

'al l new types of

~~~a,

: ", " . -:'., .' " .." : ", e: ·.. .. :.,'

-,with regaJ;d to 'maps

On

^{a scale} of1:11~i., the,Fe!ieratio~·ofRllode":!'a, and Nyasaland.p;resented at,Ca,pe :1iown A 1957)...a·dra,-t1;·map, _'G~mJ?i~:e p. on a 1:1M. scale,designed~~om~et both ~the req~irementsof~the i~~~rna­

tional',IQAO.map .and other re:quiremen:ts'~s :"fe l ]" ,Jn partiyular.;. ~~-o e of

".~,,:the·Int~rn;:l.tiona~,--Map of _th;~,.:WoJ;l d:(-UIW). ,;Thi s .particular:l:y.ⁱin,te resting

.. . ~.:.-:i de a :Wa,~ ,p.i s g\ls se d.:~t the Vnii;-ad li[atiq~s. Reg:i"on~1:,C9n.reren~e ;~o ~" the -:i,! ;,"'" ",,·F a,.r. E.ast in,' Tokyo.J1958) _wl;1e~e.;1,t .gave rtse ::t9 _long.['debates~ , J;t as

.taken l.l.P agairl 'by.:1il+eC9mmi t:tee at L~sb9.~ (1960),which' qec;:;ided 0 the ado.p$ion of.·the-:,]::C~O Lambe,rt 'Projection,'for all,n~w mapa;:c?-n,a.1qI-_f•

• • . +",.

scale tor the countries south, of the Sahara. The Technical Conference

.: .~( ! ~~ .~^{.. ' " ',i"!.:C.!} ;:~j" ':1 ~:'~(.!-":' .;' ',.:; ,' :..^{0' • •" :' ••• ••' ,} .~ ^':' .<.~ : ". ",,:'.

" ""O {' -thEi "Un:Cte-~'-'ita:tions-:-'tha:f--iri"et' 'a t "'Bonn in 1962" reverted to.this plan

. ."" ~".,:.: ..;', .: :'.1 . . ;~'. I':. ;~. '~ ~ ," ';' : . ' ; , .: .~ . '. :'-;',( · ": .,(i,. .: :;~ ' , ·..;I.t:...,~. j :. . :',,·': ..t :,,} ;j . ~

which, vas _furt~er.auppor ped py 'cei~tain-c"6Unt:r1"es' 0"£'Eu£op'e',··andAs la,

. : ~ ',:'.::-.:.,('i;.:. ... .. :. \ .... .,:' ...^{.L•.: .; : ' . : :.'••'.} ~ ^{: . "} '.~ ,, : . : .' ^{: : •} : I ' . ' .

an~,~~Q,~~~B ~"j:;. for,_th~;:~v~ Fr~~"th~t, tpE;lre, ,~~~)Uld,r es"9- t a ce r tadn alleviation of the obligations to be assvrned by $tates in international

•~. ,..: (; ; "'.''";'";,;...- ··~:i .. -,- .'.. .. .s, : .: : ",.' ., .!' " r

cartography on this scale. Uith regard to this same map, suggestions for modifications to the uniform limits of map-sheets laid down in 1913, in such a way as to simplify and alleviate the task of each member

State, resulting from its obl":Lgat"ions"in this ccnnexd on were introduoed at Salisbury, in some cases ~nth success, and were presented at Bonn by the representative of the Committee.

Finally, with regard to direct co-operation between member States, .~mphaBis was laid in the course of the various meetings on the necessity for

exch~~ges, between member States, of information on geodesy, topography,

magnetism and preoision levelling, so as to render the different kinds of work_, which ~h e various member States were oarrying out, each on its own account, in each of the disciplines coming under the jurisdiotion of the Committee, more ooherent, easier and of more general value.

E/cH. _~4/CART/3,6 E/cCl-tF~43/36"

Page 6 "

"

-. 1\

The political evolution of recent years has contributed to altering the

numb~r ' ~f me~ber

^States

~ri

^the

Com~itt'e~,

^{which has'}

"t~nded

to inc'rease.

This evolution has not, on that account,para,lyzed :i ts :acti'~^{ty; 'but 'it} renders s't'ill: _mor~ necessai'Y 'no w'than f01."lllerlY, 'particularly for coun.tr-Les south ofthe'Sahara that have recently a~hi~ved,independence,exchanges of information and doCUIrieritation, especially so far as the 't e chn i qu e s used in oartography are concerned. ,The presence on the Comm~tte~, for seyeral years to oome, of representatives of the majority of non-African oountries whioh_{. - . . .i. . .:}

~ .

- '"f o.un de d it, is a.,guarantee_. of·its.e f f i c a c i ty in the perfecting of cartographic. ^" . .

teohniques, 'a s it thus :con s t i t u t e s a committee of speoialists,,~n these

, " subjeet~., Uoreover, thanks to their suppor,t "a s regards ~ctiv~ o~-operation

bOth.in, the financing of programmes and the ·t r a i n i n g of Afrioan te9hnioians,

. , . . ^;'..^' '. :" .' :.

.i t 1s permissiblet9 take an optimistic view of the progr~s,~ of' cartographic , eqUi pmen t of State~,south of the Sah~ra, which constitutes an essential

, , ,

prerequisite for carrying out the majority of development plans af~ecting them.

, For all these reasons, the Comite'interafricainpour 11e:tablissement des oartes et releve's topographigues cons'ti tutes'

a.

regional o,rgani,zation . ha.Ving at its disposal' teohnical potentialities of high quality,,:and well-

equipped to co-operate with the Undte d !'rations:Economf o Commission for Africa by methods that' still remaiintobe 'wor k e'd out •

... .:.