This atlas is the result of an ambitious five-year effort that combined designers, mathematicians, cartographers, editors, and advances in digital technology. Using a new formula based on fractal geometry, maps were created by plotting the Earth’s latitude and longitude in a giant database. Because experimental departures from cartographic tradition would have obscured the information and undermined the maps’ credibility, the designers developed a strict system for type and color usage. They gave information graphic form in the front sections, which describe the world’s languages, religions, and environmental concerns.