Map Sources

The Atlas maps are composed of several layers of which there are two broad categories: thematic and base layers. Find below a description of each of the map layers. The layer source is included in the metadata.

Thematic Map Layers

Percentage of Productive Forest

Productive forest land depicts the area of timber productive forest divided by the area of each of the 194 Terrestrial Ecoregions of Canada. Timber productive forest refers to the almost 2.5 million square kilometres of forested land that is capable of producing timber, although not necessarily managed to do so. Natural Resources Canada. 1999. Canada Forest Inventory (CANFI), Pacific Forest Research Centre, Canadian Forest Service.

Base Map Layers

Atlas of Canada Framework Layers

Base map components are features that provide a geographic context for the thematic data shown on Atlas of Canada maps. These features include rivers, lakes, administrative boundaries, populated places, roads and rail lines. All of the Atlas of Canada base map components are available for immediate free download in five scales and in a number of data exchange formats. The 1:7 500 000 and the 1:1 000 000 scale data are the primary base frameworks used for all Atlas of Canada 6th Edition online maps. You can download Atlas of Canada data from this Web page on GeoGratis.

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