Latin American population and urbanization analysis : maps and statistics, 1950-1982 /

The author, a geographer who writes about Latin American population movements and rural economic development, also prepares maps and charts for the ``Statistical Abstract of Latin America'' series, to which this volume is a supplement. Following an overview of accelerating urbanization in Latin America, Wilkie provides a convenient grouping of statistical data on population trends for the 20 countries covered. Tables show population density, urban centers, national population, urban-rural distribution, geographical size per political subdivision, and per capita GNP. Physiographic maps, maps indicating civil subdivisions, population cartograms, and some three-dimensional choropleth maps of population density and change illustrate the data. The three-dimensional maps are very difficult to interpret since no explanatory text accompanies them. The physiographic maps add little, if anything, to our understanding of population and urbanization in Latin America. A sprinkling of photographs is largely gratuitous. They seldom illustrate the general thrust of the book. For some countries there is more information, largely because of the vagaries of the census in Latin America. Inclusion of a detailed map of individual landholdings for one Argentine Village, however, suggests the author's personal enthusiasms; no other reason for its presence is readily apparent. University libraries that subscribe to the series should get this supplement. Others might find it less useful: the general absence of text, or context, makes it difficult for the general reader.-J.H. Whaley Jr., Virginia Commonwealth University