The China Map Publishing House has published the Chinese and English editions of the Chinese National Atlas of Nature compiled by the Geology Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The atlas, which include 540 maps on the environment, resources, natural disasters, and the utilization and protection of nature in China, is a large and comprehensive national atlas, said Chen Yiyu, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

He said that more than 300 experts and scholars from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping, and other organizations were involved in the ten-year project composing the atlas.

China also plans to publish an electronic edition of the Atlas of Nature which will include three-dimensional maps and demonstrations and analysis, some of which will be available on the Internet. (Xinhua)