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An Important Map of the Arabian Peninsula

Rare geological map, showing oil fields, pipelines and terminals.

Detailed map of the complete Arabian Peninsula, based on the groundbreaking series prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Arabian American Oil Company under the joint sponsorship of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the U.S. Department of State.

The map also includes the territories of today's Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen.

This map \offers a detailed view of the region's topography, infrastructure, and natural resources. The map legend categorizes various features, including cities, towns, roads, railroads, pipelines, oil fields, and natural formations such as dunes, mountains, and sabkhas (salt flats). Different types of infrastructure are marked, with primary roads shown in solid lines and secondary roads in dashed lines. Railroads and pipelines are also depicted, along with oil fields, refineries, and pumping stations. Natural features like coral reefs, lava flows, and high-altitude gardens are clearly marked. The map uses transliterations of Arabic place names based on a standardized system.

At the bottom left is Arabic - English Glossary and some Persian words, which is transcribed below.

The map's sources were compiled from a combination of U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Geologic Investigation Maps, aerial photography, ground surveys, and other published sources. Some of the aerial photography was vertical, controlled by astral fixes and triangulation, while others were uncontrolled. One key source is "South-West Arabia" by H. St. J. B. Philby, published in 1938, along with British Desert Locust Survey Reconnaissance Maps from 1952. Other sources include British Directorate of Overseas Survey photo maps from 1959–60 and the British War Office and Air Ministry's 1:500,000 scale map from 1961. Additional information was derived from Egyptian Survey Department maps, reconnaissance ground surveys, and U.S. Hydrographic Office and British Admiralty charts.

Although the search for oil, gas and minerals was ultimately to drive geological survey work across the region—and still does today—in its early years it was the need for water that was the catalyst for Saudi Arabia 's resource exploration. In 1944 King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz approached the United States for a technical expert who could assist with the identification and plotting of the kingdom's natural resources, particularly its groundwater reserves. The individual who arrived, Glen F. Brown, was one of the pioneers of a partnership between the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the government of Saudi Arabia that was to span the next five decades and play an important role in the development of the kingdom. Brown was initially charged with carrying out surveys of much of western and central Arabia, and he gathered his information in much the same way as earlier travelers. Using modern equipment, but still traveling part of the time on foot or by donkey, Brown and his companion, Richard Bramkamp of Aramco, measured temperature and humidity, identified and estimated the extent and quality of water and mineral resources and calculated topographical data. It is estimated that the two covered more than 38,000 square kilometers (15,000 sq mi) in little more than 18 months—an extraordinary achievement.

Soon afterward, such work was dramatically supplemented by aerial photography, and by 1954 the Saudi Ministry of Finance, USGS and Aramco were working together to produce the first full series of geographic and geologic maps of the country. The first of their type in the Peninsula, these were published between 1960 and 1963 in both Arabic and English versions, and the information they contained formed the basis of subsequent Saudi national development plans. To this day, all modern maps of the kingdom trace their roots back to these first publications.

The map includes an Arabic-English Glossary and notes a number of important features, including:

• Abraq: Rocky hill with sand on slopes
• ‘Ayn: Spring, solution pit, or well
• Barqā’: Same as abraq but broader
• Bi’r; pl., Abār: Dug well
• Birkah(t): Cistern
• Daḥl: Deep sinkhole or solution cavity
• Ghubbah(t): Gulf or deep water bay
• Ḥādh: Sand area with many ḥādh shrubs
• Ḥarrah(t): Lava flow and volcanic debris
• Ḥaṣī, Ḥiṣī; pl., Ḥisā’: Dug well, seasonal
• Ḥiṣn: Fort
• ‘Irq; pl., ‘Urūq: Long linear sand ridge
• Jabal; pl., Jibāl: Hill or mountain
• Jāl; pl., Jilān: Rocky escarpment, low cliff, or side of a valley
• Jaww: Pronounced sandy-bottomed depression or valley
• Jazīrah(t); pl., Jazā’ir: Island
• Khabrā’: Closed basin with firm, flat mud and silt surface, commonly barren and lacking vegetation
• Khafs: Pond in a natural depression
• Khashm: Headland or promontory along a cliff or mountain front
• Khawr: Marine inlet, bay; salty or brackish well
• Marsá: Sea anchorage
• Mishāsh: Shallow hand-dug well
• Nafūd: Large area of sand dunes
• Nahr: Stream, river
• Qā‘: Depressed plain
• Qal‘ah(t): Fort
• Qalamah(t): Drilled well
• Qalīb; pl., Qulbān: Well, spring
• Qārah(t): Flat-topped hill, usually rounded
• Qaṣr: Fort, palace, or castle
• Ramlah(t): Sand area
• Ra’s: Tip of cape or headland protruding into the sea
• Sabkhah(t): Silt, clay, and sand flat, often with saline incrustations
• Sahl: Plain
• Sha‘īb: Same as wādī
• Sharm: Abyss, sea-gulf
• Ṣummān: Extensive, rocky, plateau-like area ranging from a plain to a shallowly dissected area
• Ṭawī: Well
• Wādī; pl., Widyān: Valley or dry watercourse

Persian Terms

• Bandar: Harbor, anchorage
• Jazīreh: Island
• Rūd, Rūdkhāneh: River, stream