26 June 2008

Euratlas-Info 23

1) THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE IN 1845
While there are many records of the Western countries, historical maps of the Middle East are very scarce. Thus, it is really difficult to recreate the historical geography of Turkey, Lebanon, the Kurdish regions, Armenia or Iraq, all the more as the populations were speaking various languages. The replacement of the Ottoman script with a Latin alphabet in 1928, the specific Armenian and Georgian alphabets, the various transcriptions of Arabic words and the numerous transliterations of some names (e.g. from Kurdish to Arabic, then to Ottoman Turkish and finally to modern Turkish) makes it quite impossible to locate some places.Here is a map of the Ottoman Empire realized by Louis Vivien de Saint-Martin and Adolphe Noël des Vergers and published in Paris by Charles Picquet in 1845. Names and borders are legible. Therefore it will be possible to spot the ancient places with their modern equivalents, to search for the small 19th century Kurdish or Armenian autonomies or to examine the border between the Pashalik of Baghdad and Iran.

2) GREECE
In the Europe Photos section, you'll find some new pictures of Greece: the legendary Bridge of Arta (allegedly built with human blood), the modern Rio-Antirio Bridge (built with EU funding), the Souli Mountains, the Vlach town of Aminciu or Metsovo, the fortress of Patras, the Meteora, the Fine Gate of Nicopolis and many other views of Athens and Greek landmarks.

3) EUROPE AND EUROPEAN UNION 2008
Here is, for Euratlas-Info subscribers only, an A4 printable map of whole Europe and the European Union. The map shows the names of all the European countries with their capital-cities and is available in color or grey level, blank or with labels.