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The record is made up of 1 volume (76 folios). It was created in Feb 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. .
Transcription
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Mesopotamia,
CLIMATE
7
In northern Irak absolute maxima of over 120° F.
(49° C.) are rea-ched in July and August. At Basra,
however, where the neighbouring marshes keep the
humidity of the air at a high level during the summer
months, the heat is more trying than in the dryer atmo
sphere of Baghdad.
In the mountains bordering on the Mesopotamia!!
depression the summer is temperate, and the cold in
winter is severe, especially on the edge of the Armenian
plateau.
In the plains and lower bills the rainy season lasts
from November to April; December, January, February,
and March are the wettest months. In lower Mesopo
tamia many places may have no rain at all from June
to October. In upper Mesopotamia there is usually a
slight fall in May, and, at least in some places, a very
little in June, September, and October, while July and
August are rainless.
The amount of rainfall decreases from north to
south. At the northern end of the Jezireh plains and
in the uplands of Diarbekr the total fall in the year is
13-16 in. (330-410 mm.), in Irak it is only 2^-7 in.
(57-179 mm.), and a large proportion of the total
often falls in one day.
Snow falls in northern Mesopotamia in December
and January, and sometimes in February or even
March. The main thaw and heavy rains come in
March and April, and cause the great spring floods
on the rivers of Mesopotamia.
The prevailing winds in the Mesopotamia!! lowlands
are from the north-west; blowing with some freshness
at intervals from June to August, they mitigate the
heat and help to reduce the floods.
(4) Sanitary Conditions
The principal disease of the country is malaria.
This is worst in the neighbourhood of marshes
and inundation-areas, and it is therefore especially
prevalent in lower Mesopotamia, and above all in the
swamps of southern Irak. In the plains during the
About this item
- Content
This volume is a confidential handbook on Mesopotamia prepared under the direction of the Historical Section of the Foreign Office, dated February 1919. There is a table of contents which includes the following chapters:
- I: 'Geography Physical and Political', including 'Position and Frontiers', 'Surface, Coast and River Systems', 'Climate', 'Sanitary Conditions', 'Race and Language' and 'Population';
- II: 'Political History', including 'Chronological Summary', 'Introduction', 'Early period of Turkish Occupation, 1638-1834', 'Later period of Turkish Occupation, 1834-1914', and 'Commercial Developments';
- III: 'Social and Political Conditions', including 'Religious', 'Political', 'Public Education' and 'General Observations';
- IV: 'Economic Conditions', including 'Means of Communication', 'Industry', 'Commerce', 'Finance' and 'General Remarks'.
There is also an appendix which includes tables of 'Exports to Principal Countries from Baghdad', 'Imports from Principal Countries to Baghdad', 'Principal Exports from Basra' and 'Principal Imports to Basra'. This is followed by a section entitled 'Authorities' which is a bibliography of references used for the preparation of the volume. This section is divided into 'Historical' (including 'Confidential Sources'), 'Economic' ('Official' and 'General') and 'Maps'. There is a pocket at the back of the volume to house maps, but there are no maps present.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (76 folios)
- Physical characteristics
Pagination: The volume contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover, and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'Mesopotamia' [9r] (17/152), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/C190, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023514036.0x000012> [accessed 27 August 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/20/C190
- Title
- 'Mesopotamia'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:75v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence