   an atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a map of earth or a region of earth, but there are atlases of the other planets (and their satellites) in the solar system. furthermore atlases of anatomy exist, mapping out the human body or other organisms. atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. in addition to presenting geographic features and political boundaries, many atlases often feature geopolitical, social, religious and economic statistics. they also have information about the map and places in it. ==types== a travel atlas is made for easy use during travel, and often has spiral bindings so it may be folded flat. it has maps at a large zoom so the maps can be reviewed easily. a travel atlas may also be referred to as a road map. a desk atlas is made similar to a reference book. it may be in hardback or paperback form. ==modern atlas== with the coming of the global market, publishers in different countries can reprint maps from places made elsewhere. this means that the place names on the maps often use the designations or abbreviations of the language of the country in which the feature is located, to serve the widest market. for example, islands near russia have the abbreviation "o." for "ostrov", not "i." for "island". this practice differs from what is standard for any given language, and it reaches its extremity concerning transliterations from other languages. in particular, german mapmakers use the transliterations from cyrillic developed by the czechs, which are hardly used in english-speaking countries.  ==selected general atlases==  some cartographically or commercially important atlases include the following: ;17th century and earlier *atlas novus (blaeu, netherlands, 1635â1658) *atlas maior (blaeu, netherlands, 1662â1667) *cartes gÃ©nÃ©rales de toutes les parties du monde (france, 1658â1676) *dell'arcano del mare (england/italy, 1645â1661) *piri reis map (ottoman empire, 1570â1612) *theatrum orbis terrarum (ortelius, netherlands, 1570â1612) *klencke atlas (1660; one of the world's largest books) *the brittania (john ogilby, 1670â1676) ;18th century *atlas nouveau (amst
Atlases