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'Arabia. Handbooks prepared under the direction of the Historical Section of the Foreign Office - no 90' [‎2] (17/148)

The record is made up of 1 volume (69 folios). It was created in 1919. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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2
GEOGRAPHY
[No. 90
(2) Surface, Coasts, and River System
Surface
A conspicuous physical feature of Arabia is the
range of mountains running parallel to the western
coast, rising in Midian on the north and in Yemen on
the south to a height of over 8,000 ft. The fall towards
the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. is long and gradual, while that
towards the Red Sea is short and steep; the highest
land-levels, therefore, are in the west. Nejd, the central
part of Arabia, has a mean elevation of fully 2,500 ft.,
but the only notable exceptions to the general eastward
decline are the mountains of Oman, where the summits
of Jebel Akhdar are as high as the mountains of Midian
and Yemen.
Arabia consists otherwise mainly of desert or steppe.
Of deserts there are four main varieties, distinguished
by their type of surface:—
(1) Dana, the comparatively hard gravelly plain,
covered at intervals with parallel belts of sand, which
stretches across the greater part of eastern Arabia. It
is very barren, but is likely to hold ground-water at a
depth which can be reached by well-sinkers.
(2) Nefud, a continuous area of deep sand blown
into high sand-banks or dunes. The usefulness of this
part of Arabia varies according to (a) the frequency
and proximity of the dunes, {b) the nature of the sand,
(c) exposure to winter rainfall. If granitic, with a
regular though small rainfall (as in the northern
Nefud), the surface is comparatively compact, and
during some months is covered with pasture. If wholly
of sandstone or limestone it is softer and less pro
ductive, but with some vegetation in the spring.
Vegetation only fails entirely in a region of slight and
uncertain rainfall, such as the great southern desert
(Ruba el-Khali, or " Quarter of Emptiness "), the
eastern half of which is partly nefud and partly
dana.
(3) Ahkaf, very soft dune country with compara
tively narrow trough-intervals between continuous

About this item

Content

This volume contains information on the geography, political history and economic conditions of Arabia and was published by the Historical Section of the Foreign Office in April 1919.

It is divided into four sections: 'Geography Physical and Political'; 'Political History'; 'Political Conditions' and 'Economic Conditions'. There is an Appendix, containing tables regarding trade in Aden, Muscat and Bahrein, 1909-1917.

There is a map 'Sketch Map of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and Arabia', compiled by the War Office on June 1914.

Extent and format
1 volume (69 folios)
Physical characteristics

Foliation: There is a foliation sequence, which is circled in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of each folio. It begins on the first folio with text, on number 1, and ends on the map on a sleeve on the inside back cover, on number 70.

Pagination: There is also an original pagination, iv-vi, 2-127.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'Arabia. Handbooks prepared under the direction of the Historical Section of the Foreign Office - no 90' [‎2] (17/148), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/E85, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023512781.0x000012> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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