The Afghan Geodesy and Cartography Office (AGCO) is responsible for topographic and cadastral surveying and mapping of the country and was established in Kabul in 1958. It inherited inaccurate Survey of India quarter-inch coverage of the country and initiated new mapping with Russian and American aid. This resulted in a 1:250,000 scale series covering the country in 92 sheets printed in five colors and completed by 1970, as well as 1:100,000 scale mapping in 440 sheets, and l:50,000 scale coverage in 1,650 sheets. These maps are on the UTM projection, Hayford international ellipsoid. Between 1976 and 1982 work was carried out to compile a new 1:25,000 scale photogrammetric map of parts of the country, with five, 10, or 20 m contours. Larger-scale mapping was also carried out, with 1:10,000 mapping of development areas and 1:5,000 scale mapping of Kabul.
Soviet military topographic mapping of Afghanistan is available at the following scales: 1:1,000,000 (7 sheets, complete coverage, published 1984-1990); 1:500,000 (20 sheets, complete coverage, published 1988-1990); 1:200,000 (127 sheets, complete coverage, published 1980-1992); 1:100,000 (446 sheets, complete coverage, published 1961-1991); 1:50,000 (1,644 sheets, complete coverage, published 1983-1990) and city (1:10,000 to 1:25,000) topographic mapping of 7 major cities from Charikar to Termez, published between 1984 and 1989. These products are available in print, digital raster and digital vector GIS formats from East View Geospatial.
The Afghan Ministry of Mines and Industry (MMI) has compiled earth science mapping of the country. A four-sheet 1:500,000 scale geological map from the German Bundesanstalt fϋr Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BfGR) covers central and southern Afghanistan and is the most accurate geological map available for the much of the country. A recently published arias from the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) brings together the most recent small-scale earth science themes with explanations of geology, tectonics, mineral resources and magmatic formations. The Institut Français de Recherche Scientifique pour le Développement en Coopération (ORSTOM) published soil mapping of parts of the country in 1977.
AGCO also produced small scale mapping, including political and relief maps. Other small scale mapping of the country has been compiled by Iranian commercial mapping firms Gitashenasi and Sahab, the latter also produced an atlas of Afghanistan in the late 1970s.
The national atlas was compiled in the mid 1980s by the Polish overseas agency Geokart in association with AGCO.
German commercial maps publishers RV and Nelles Verlag issue small scale general coverage of the country.
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