JavaScript is currently disabled, this site works much better if you enable JavaScript in your browser. (SSM) in vector and raster formats are discussed. The inventory of all the sheets of the SSM has been performed. The map has been vectorized in strict correspondence to the scale and projections of the initial map sheets in paper format, i.e., the digitized version of the map exactly reproduces the soil polygons shown on the original map sheets. The methods and challenges of digital soil cartography are considered. With respect to the SSM, the importance of two major advantages of the digitized version of this map is emphasized: (a) the preservation of the initial materials in the new electronic formats and (b) the possibility to improve the map with the use of new materials, including satellite images, digital elevation models, and various thematic maps after the transformation of their scales and projections. The analysis of the SSM in the vector format makes it possible to systematize and formulate the major problems and difficulties related to this project and to suggest the particular technologies and methods of their solution, certain directions requiring the elaboration of new methods are outlined. The final goal of the project on the development of the digital version of the SSM is the creation of a unified consistent soil map of Russia on a scale of 1: 1 M. Original Russian Text © D.I. Rukhovich, P.V. Koroleva, N.V. Kalinina, E.V. Vil’chevskaya, M.S. Simakova, E.A. Dolinina, S.V. Rukhovich, 2013, published in Pochvovedenie, 2013, No. 3, pp. 251–267. E. G. Kapralov, N. V. Kolesnikova, and S. A. Miller, “30 Years of Digital Cartography in Russia: Are There Grounds to Speak about Acievements?” GIS Assots. Inf. Byull. No. 5(67), 2008. D. I. Rukhovich, V. B. Wagner, E. V. Vil’chevskaya, N. V. Kalinina, P. V. Koroleva, “Problems of Using Digitized Thematic Maps on the Territory of the Former Soviet Union upon the Creation of the “Soils of Russia” Geographic Information System,” Eur. Soil Sci. D. I. Rukhovich, N. V. Kalinina, E. V. Vil’chevskaya, P. V. Koroleva, L. G. Kolesnikova, and S. V. Rukhovich, “Electronic Version of the State Soil Map: Methods of Creation and Correction,” in D. I. Rukhovich, P. V. Koroleva, E. V. Vil’chevskaya, and N. V. Kalinina, “Digital Thematic Cartography: Available Sources and Methods of Their Use,” in N. V. Sazonov, Yu. N. Dedaev, and N. M. Vandysheva, “Back into the Future. On the 30th Anniversary of the Creation of an Automated Information Management System AIUS-Agroresources,” GIS Assots. Inf. Byull. No. 2 (69) (2009). M. S. Simakova, D. I. Rukhovich, E. V. Vil’chevskaya, and N. V. Kalinina, “Digitized Version of the State Soil Map on a Scale of 1: 1 M: Problems and Solutions,” Eur. Soil Sci. M. S. Simakova, D. I. Rukhovich, E. V. Vil’chevskaya, N. V. Kalinina, L. G. Kolesnikova, P. V. Koroleva, “Complementation of the Content of the State Soil Map with Information on the Genesis of Parent Materials and Soil Texture,” Byull. Pochven. Inst. im. V.V. Dokuchaeva, No. 66, 3–16 (2011). D. A. Starostenko, “Geoinformation Technologies in Forestry,” Byull. Ispol’zov. Okhrana Prirodn. Res. Ross., Nos. 11–12 (2000). M. E. Fleis, M. M. Borisov, and M. V. Aleksandrovich, “Cartographic Projections and Harmonization of the Maps of Russia and the Soviet Union Developed in Different Years in the Geoinformation Environment,” Izvestiya Ross. Akad. Nauk, Ser. Geogr., No. 5, 118–125 (2008). N. B. Khitrov, D. I. Rukhovich, N. V. Kalinina, A. F. Novikova, E. I. Pankova, G. I. Chernousenko, “Estimation of the Areas of Salt-Affected Soils in the European Part of Russia on the Basis of a Digital Map of Soil Salinization on a Scale of 1: 2.5 M,” Eur. Soil Sci. G. I. Chernousenko, N. V. Kalinina, D. I. Rukhovich, and P. V. Koroleva, “Digital Map of Salt-Affected Soils in Khakassia,” Eur. Soil Sci. (in print). G. I. Chernousenko, N. V. Kalinina, N. B. Khitrov, E. I. Pankova, D. I. Rukhovich, I. A. Yamnova, and A. F. Novikova, “Quantification of the Areas of Saline and Solonetzic Soils in the Ural Federal Region of the Russian Federation,” Eur. Soil Sci. D. I. Rukhovich, P. V. Koroleva, E. V. Vilchevskaya, V. A. Romanenkov, L. G. Kolesnikova, “Constructing a Spatially-Resolved Database for Modeling Soil Organic Carbon Stocks of Croplands in European Russia,” Region. Environm. Change, Source.