La oportunidad de un atlas sobre el estado del continente africano.

From Classical Antiquity to the present days, cartographic representations of the Earth have multiplied. However, not all the territories of the planet have received the same attention. In the case of the African continent, there are few collections of recent maps, especially, of those that are composed of thematic atlases. This circumstance was decisive in determining the focus of the internship in Casa África during academic year 2012- 2013, under the auspices of the Consortium Casa África - University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The objective of the internship was the drawing up of a digital atlas of Africa, which resulted in the carrying out forty thematic maps based on geographical, environmental, demographic, economic, social, geopolitical and cultural indicators, as well as on its economic and political relations with Spain. The drawing up of this atlas was affected by many difficulties related to the searching and processing of the sources of information, as well as by a design and editing work that required the use of new geographical information technologies. This article reflects the importance of Cartography as an essential tool of geographical knowledge and the overcoming of that challenging difficulties such as the drawing up of an atlas about the present conditions of the African continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]