The World Atlas () is the Soviet and later Russian atlas of the world. Predecessors Initially Russian cartography did not produce original work: the Atlas Marksa (1905), for example, was merely a translation of German Neuer Handatlas by Debes. The large Atlas Mira (1st Russian edition, 1954), with some 200,000 names was therefore a significant milestone. An English edition later followed (The World Atlas, 2nd ed., 1967). A similar Soviet project Bolshoi Sovietskii Atlas Mira, which was intended to be the most comprehensive atlas of modern times, remained, however, incomplete due to WWII; only two out of three planned volumes (1937/39) were published. Editions First Edition The first edition was made in 1954. It contains 283 pages of maps with a separate book of geographical index which carries 205000 items that cover all of the maps. On the first page of the atlas is a vignette with a world map inside a five-pointed star, prominently depicting the Soviet Union. Thereafter is the title page, on the reverse side the decision of the Council of Ministers of the USSR to publish the atlas, a page with the names of the editorial board, a page with the other editors, a preface of two pages and the table of contents in two pages. First in the map section are two pages with a key to map symbols – also given as a separate sheet. Thereafter are the 283 pages with maps and finally a page with more names of collaborators, technical information and at the end the number of copies printed (25,000). Many maps are on a double page, with a total width of 63 cm. The reverse side of the left-hand page which comes first in leafing through atlas – the 'title side' – usually has a scheme with the current map and the adjacent sheets. A map is printed on the reverse side of almost all right-hand pages. Some maps are even wider than 63 cm and therefore have a foldout; see the table of contents. The index, a separate volume, has a title page, a preface of two pages, a page on how to use the index, and a page with the abbreviations used. Thereafter is the actual index of 545 pages. In the end are 14 pages with translations of non-Russian geographical terms and words that occur in place names. After the key to map symbols the map section