GEOGRAPHICAL SECTION, GENERAL STAFF.
Persian Gulf.
AN EXTREMELY DETAILED MAP OF THE ARABIAN GULF
An extremely detailed official British map focused on the Arabian Peninsula and Arabian Gulf, but also covering Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and the Red Sea from Sinai to Jeddah.
Britain’s involvement in the Middle Eastern theatre of WWI greatly advanced her topographical knowledge of the region, and resulted in some remarkably accurate cartography. This map displays that increased understanding, and builds on it, revising the information to 1928. Such revision was important, in order to better reflect national boundaries, particularly in the Arabian Peninsula where the territory of the Al Saud was quickly expanding. A note below the imprint records recent changes to the “Boundaries, railways and detail in the neighbourhood of [the] Iraq-Nejd boundary”.
It also shows how some modern-day regional powerhouses were effectively cut off from growing road and rail networks, with Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi only connected to the outside world by single roads and tracks in the sand.
