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Europe may be small in comparison to Canada, but it is densely populated and difficult to map as a continent while providing detail. Eastern Europe used to be defined as everything behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War, but now it encompasses everything east of Germany and Switzerland, which means that this map covers Italy, Greece and the Balkan countries, the Central European countries of Romania and Hungary and most of Ukraine, Poland and the three Baltic states, and western Russia as far east as Volgograd, as well as much of Turkey. It is a combined road and rail map, showing motorways and major highways, fast-train routes in red and regular services in black. It also shows major cruise line routes, although many have been suspended due to Covid and political situations in Russia and Turkey.

Essentially, this is a map covering a very large area, as are our maps of Western and Central Europe, and our earlier map of Scandinavia. We have tried to make it politically correct, which is difficult considering the Russian occupation of Crimea and the Donetsk region of Ukraine and the on-going controversy over the ‘proper’ name for Macedonia, so we apologize for any errors. For simplicity’s sake, we have named most place names in English, so Roma is Rome and Moscva is Moscow etc. Fortunately, most English place names are the same in the local languages. However, being ITMB, Naples is Napoli, and Florence is Firenze, so don’t be too critical of us; we’re trying to reconcile differing perspectives.

• Publisert: 2021
• Innbinding: Falset
• Materiale: Papir
• Målestokk: 1:2 600 000

Ukraine is the largest country in Europe. Russia doesn’t count because it is mostly in Asia and is generally disliked by everyone. At the moment, Ukraine is holding its own against a concerted attack by Russia to decimate it and make it part of Putin’s Russia. Under normal circumstances, no one should be publishing a map of Ukraine in the middle of a devastating war, but surprisingly, it is one of our best-selling maps for Europe and has gone through three editions over the last three years. The reason is not tourism per se, but information, which is needed by policy makers, aid groups, and armchair followers of developing events. It is also interesting to see an evolving pattern of place name changes as Ukraine gets rid of Russian-imposed names. Bakhmut, location of a famous battle a year ago, is a case in point.

All maps, until now, show the old Russian name; only ITMB’s map shows the new Ukrainian name. With each new edition, we find more names that have changed. So, this map is not important for showing road conditions or power lines because such matters are in the hands of the gods of war. This map is essential for everyone because we are all affected by what happens in Ukraine. ITMB is fortunate in having a cartographer whose passion is Ukraine and is always coming up with yet another place that has changed its name, but nobody noticed. We show the country as it should be, with eastern regions and Crimea being a legitimate part of the country.

• Publisert: 2024
• Innbinding: Falset
• Materiale:  Vanntett papir
• Målestokk: 1:1 000 000