Aqueous Araby

(Click on the maps for a larger, sharper image.)

Let’s begin with Aqueous Araby.

I was reading an article on global higher ed from Gulf magazine in Qatar, and realized I had no idea of the location of Qatar. It was one of those Fifth grade curriculum moments where I was pretty, but not 100%, sure it was a country. So I googled an image of “Qatar map”, then “middle east map” and got the gorgeous jpeg above.

First of all: the colors. This is a fetching, autumnal palate. I am engaged.

Second: the bodies of water evoke Olmstead’s emerald necklace of parks around Boston, although this time the jewellery in question would be, of course, sapphire. The cropping of the Arabian sea turns the Red Sea and Persian Gulf into more discrete entities. By locking the water masses with more land, the pattern becomes more cognitively manageable.

I think about Leni, summoning an image of the world, placing countries in front of her in space.

…there’s the Mediterranean: it’s easier to visualize Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt

Red Sea: Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel

Persian Gulf: U.A.E., Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran

Caspian Sea: Kazakstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Azerbajian, Russia

Black Sea: Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Russia, Urkraine

Arabian Sea/Gulf of Aden: Somalia, Djibouti, Yemen, Oman

Arabian Sea/Gulf of Oman: Oman, U.A.E., (a little tip more of Oman), Iran

Ooh, I’d like to have some maps with boundaries, colors, sans country names to actually learn this stuff. Good subway fun.

Here’s an example of a map that creates visually unwieldy territory. This makes the challenge of remembering all the tiny countries too overwhelming. Best to go for the big picture by continent: [Madagascar, East African Coast], [Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iran], [Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, a little more India, Myanmar/Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia], Australia.

And here’s a nice discrete portion of South Asia:

And to close with a more intimate location, here’s a facet of one of Boston’s emeralds:

Think globally, revel locally.