HarperCollins Publishers’ flagship cartographic publication is The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World, the 16th edition of which was published in late 2023. It is the largest commercially available world atlas with over 200,000 place names and was described by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, the renowned explorer and writer, as “the greatest book on Earth”.
A new edition is published every four years and changes to the current version include:
- New country names for Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and North Macedonia (previously the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia)
- More than 8000 place-name changes, with names comprehensively updated in Kazakhstan and Ukraine
- Addition of Māori names in New Zealand and indigenous names in Australia, the most notable being the renaming of Fraser Island in Queensland to its Butchulla name K’gari
- Administrative boundary updates in Ethiopia, Mali and Kazakhstan
- Road, railway and airport infrastructure updated across the globe, including the 4km-long Dardanelles Bridge (Turkey), the Fehmarn Belt road/rail tunnel alignment (Germany/Denmark) and the Sandoy Tunnel (Faroe Islands).
We are currently working with IMIA partners to diversify how readers can access the content of the atlas. The following initiatives will be available later this year:
- Access to digital versions of all 16 editions of The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World, along with the Mid-Century Times Atlas (1955), The Times Survey Atlas of the World (1920) and the very first Times Atlas (1895) via East View Information Services
- MapSherpa will be making all 143 maps available as print-on-demand maps to retailers
- All the maps will be added to Avenza Maps’ Map Store for download to mobile devices
If you want that extra special touch of adding a dedication to the atlas as a unique gift for a loved one, head over to collins.co.uk to create your personalized edition.