Slot in his book The Origins of Kuwait, shows that the map of N. Sanson which was published in 1652, was the first to have the name of Kazima. On this map Kazima was not exactly placed. It was located far off shore. There is a clear political border on this map, which intersected it from Basra. There is another print of Sanson’s map issued in 1654 where he corrected Kazima’s position. He approached it to the coast.

The cartographer Isaak Tirion drew the first Dutch map , which showed Kazima as a main port overlooking the coast, in 1732. Afterwards, a number of maps were issued such as brothers R. and J. Ottens map and the German publisher J.B. Homann which were issued in 1737. Kazima opposite to Failaka Island appeared on the maps of the French cartographer Bonne who published a collection of the Gulf maps between 1760 and 1780.

By the end of the seventeenth century Kazima began to lose its importance as a port known in the region during the previous centuries. It was substituted by another neighbouring site: Al-Grane. It was the name that was closely related to the foundation of modern Kuwait. The historians did not accurately define the date of the emergence of that city. However, it is well known that its foundation was related to the Utub tribe immigration that arrived to it at the beginning of the seventeenth century. By the beginning of the eighteenth century those tribes turned into an urban community who had a clear political entity. The voyager Murtada bin Ulwan who visited Kuwait in 1710 wrote:
“We came to a town named al-Kuwait, in the diminutive form. It is a sizable town that resembles al-Hasa. To be true, it is smaller but in its buildings and towers it is its like.”
Then he wrote:

“This Kuwait is also called al-Grane. Before we reached it we had travelled along the coast of the sea for three consecutive days with the ships accompanying us. The harbour is directly adjacent to the town, without anything between. All the cereals, i.e.wheat and others, arrive by the sea because its soil does not allow for agriculture; even date palms do not grow there nor any other tree. Nevertheless prices are lower than in al-Hasa.”

The first map included the name Grane is Van Keulen’s map of 1753. This name was still mentioned in the maps adjacent to the name of Kuwait till the end of the nineteenth century, until it began to gradually vanish and Kuwait’s name substituted it by the end of the century. Anyhow, this does not mean that Grane is the oldest name of Kuwait. We have referred to Murtada bin Ulwan text of 1710, which clarified that Kuwait’s name was Grane. Besides, C. Niebuhr, who made a journey to the Arabian Peninsula in 1761, mentioned Kuwait adjacent to Grane and mentioned that the inhabitants called Grane city: Kuwait.

I am going to present you within the span of time allotted for this lecture, a chronicle demonstration of the most distinguished maps that included the name Kuwait with its various names. 

• Let’s begin with the map of the southern western part of Asia published by J.H.Linschoten in the Netherlands in 1596. This map is kept in the General State Archives of The Netherlands (Slot, 14). It is one of the earliest maps drawn of the region in 1596. Wadi al-Batin, the northern part of Kuwait appears on it. The only name seen on the map is the Island of Dagoada that means the island of water. Dagoada appeared on many other maps. Observe the visual theatrical language the cartographers of that time developed. This map approximately depended on the Portuguese maps. Its painter worked in the Dutch Eastern India Company. He saw this map in Goa with one of the cartographers. He published it in one of his books after his return to the Netherlands.

• The French geographer N. Sanson drew the Arabian Peninsula map in1652. Slot published it in his book The Origins of Kuwait and mentioned that it was taken from the collection of Dr Sultan bin Mohammad Al-Qasimi.
This is one of the detailed maps of the Arabian Peninsula where Kazima appears far from the coastline in the direction of the northern Kuwait borders. Slot thinks that although the geometric drawing of the borders on the maps was still primitive at that time, yet the stability of Kazima location in many maps proves the validity of the location. On this map, and the other ones followed, Kazima was drawn outside the borders of the Ottoman Iraqi province. It is noteworthy that administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire had been well known in Europe since the seventeenth century. All Europeans knew all that inside or outside the Ottoman Empire (Slot 40).

• Brothers R. and J. Ottens undated map of the Ottoman State and Persia was for sale in 1737. (Slot 53).
It is one of the most wonderful maps made by the Ottens brothers. The borders between Kuwait region and the Ottoman State were very clear. Kazima overlooks the coastline, opposite to it an island named Kazima harbour. This map includes the names of a number of locations near to Kazima. We are unable to identify them. The river that was frequently drawn on the maps of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and which showed the existence of a river extending from Basra to al-Hasa, is included. This fictitious river came as a result of a misunderstanding report written by the famous voyager V.G.Balbi in 1580. Balbi wrote that the trade route from Basra branched into two: the first one was called Hormoz River through which big ships sailed into India and the second was used by the small ships sailing to Bahrain and al-Hasa. The right statement is : there were two trade routes from Basra, the first was used by small ships which sailed through Shatt al-Arab to Bahrain and al-Hasa and no more. The second was used by the big ships, which sailed to India through Hormoz strait. Slot investigated and studied this subject (Slot 36).

• The map of Turkishg Asia, a French map related to a generation of similar maps, appeared in the mid-eighteenth century, drawn by Herauli and printed in Paris.
The northern borders of the region of Kuwait, which were drawn in numerous maps, are old and clearly landmarked. The borders were drawn in a way closely similar to the present ones. Kazima is the main port at the cape of the Arabian Gulf. It is the only name within Kuwait’s region mentioned on the map. From the map, it is obvious that Kazima was a terrain link between eastern Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf cape.

• The Arabian Gulf map drawn by C. Nebuhr in his book includesg a description of his journey to the Arabian Peninsula and its first edition published in Denmark in 1772. It is noteworthy that he made his journey to the Peninsula in 1761.

• Nebuhr’s map was the first map that mentioned the name of Kuwait adjacent to Grane. He, inter alia, mentioned other Kuwaiti locations such as Khor Abdulla, and Warbah and Bubyan islands. Since the map was nautical, it did not refer to the internal sites. Kazima name disappeared from the map in spite of being mentioned on the maps which Nebuhr relied upon.

• C. Retter drew the Arabian Peninsula map. He was a German scholarg and one of the founders of modern geography. The map is taken from his book Erd Kunde which was published in many volumes in 1818. R. Kiepert republished them in 1867.
This is one of the earliest maps of the nineteenth century, which clearly defined the independence, and the political entity of Kuwait. Indeed Kuwait forms a distinctive statehood in the northeastern part of the Arabian Peninsula.
The old name Grane and Kuwait’s name are together on this map. Retter called Kuwait Republic because of the similarity he found between the ruling system in Kuwait, the procedure followed in choosing the ruler and the republican system.
On this map, Faw and the northwestern coastlines of the Arabian Gulf are inclusive inside the Kuwaiti borders. Kazima replaced Jahra city location near Ras az-Zor and named Kuwait or Grane. Some cartographers followed Ritters attitude.

• A map which shows the Arabian Peninsula,g drawn in 1840, and issued under the supervision of the Society of the Defusion of Useful Knowledge in London.
This is one of the nineteenth century maps, which proves Kuwaiti statehood in world maps. It clearly defined Kuwait region. Yet, it does not accurately reflect the limits of Kuwait’s power at that time.
It is observed that the northern border includes the Faw region and other parts to the north of the present Kuwaiti borders. It is worth mentioning that Kuwait borders included the coastline extended from the Faw to Umm Qasr. Kuwait appeared on the map under the name Grane at the location of the ancient city (within the wall). There is a mention of Grane harbour. Qarooh, Kuppar, Failaka and Bubyan islands appeared on the map, as well.

• A map showsg the Arabian Peninsula and some parts of Asia, published by A. K. Jonston (1803-1871) in his grand atlas issued in Edinburg, the UK in 1874, i.e. three years after his demise. Jonston is considered one of the most distinguished cartographers in the first half of the nineteenth century.
This is one of the rare maps, which clearly shows the borders of Kuwait. They extend north to include Faw, the southern parts of Shatt al-Arab, and the whole coastline of Iraq. Those borders extend to more than twenty miles in some regions. The islands opposite to Kuwait’s coastline have the same colour as that of Kuwait’s.
What makes this map unique is that it is one of the earliest maps that appeared in the nineteenth century including the name of Kuwait City without mentioning the name of Grane. Besides, the State on this map is called “The Republic of Kuwait” as aforementioned by Retter and a number of other cartographers.

What is worthy of note and what distinguishes the identity and independence of Kuwait, is that it was the sole political entity with clear borders in all the Arabian Peninsula. In this map, Kuwait is distinguished by a special colour different from the other neighbouring political entities especially Turkey.

If we compared the contents of the historical maps, which were published for more than three centuries and the resolution of the UN Commission for the Boundary Demarcation between Kuwait and Iraq, we find that Iraq gained more areas at its northern borders than those presented in the aforementioned maps. This can be shown as follows:

• Iraq, in its endeavors to join the League of Nations had to indicate that its neighbours agreed upon its borders. It officially applied to Kuwait to get its approval on the demarcation of the then borders between them. This is asserted in an official letter signed by the Iraqi Prime Minister in 1932, as mentioned in this document which described and defined the status quo. Both letters were published and kept within the UN documents for the borders’ demarcation.
• In 1939, Iraq removed a large notice board marked Iraq-Kuwait Boundary which was an indicator of where the boundary ran in the region. Iraq sent a letter to the British political resident emphasising that the borders were 1250 meters far from the old customs station, meanwhile Kuwait believed it was only 1000 meters off that station, and there was also a third point of view of a British expert.
• When the UN Commission for Demarcating the Borders between Kuwait and Iraq set out to define the location of that notice board, its estimates were different to the referring points at Safwan and its proximity. The Commission came to two probabilities in relation to that notice board. The British expert was of the opinion that the location of the notice board was one mile (1609 meters) distance south to the old customs station; meanwhile the Iraqi opinion asserted that the location was at 1250 meters. The Commission balanced both opinions and made a compromise, i.e. the notice board should be located at 1430 meters. Therefore, the notice board was located according to this amendment which depended on two points of view save Kuwait’s.
• Therefore, Kuwait lost 430 meters along its borders with Iraq. This was a great loss for Kuwait since that land contains oil wells. Yet, Kuwait accepted this arbitration in compliance with the UN resolution sacrificing its national vital interests for the sublime human objectives of achieving peace, stability and security for all the peoples of the region.
• Concerning the maritime borders between Kuwait and Iraq, the international convention and 1982 Law of sea agreement signed by Iraq stipulates the median line as regional sea boundary between meeting and neighbouring countries.
• Iraq recorded its recognition by the median line in the map that has the official stamp of the Iraqi Petroleum Ministry, Republic of Iraq prepared by Norwegian hydrographer Captain Coucheron-Aamout in 1959 for Iraq which presented that official document to the International Court of Justice on 22/8/1960 to assert his point of view in its disputes with other countries. This document was published in vol. I- 168 in the proceedings of the International Court of Justice, sea and continental shelf.
• The UN Commission for Boundary Demarcation between Kuwait and Iraq has highly ensured water routes in Khor az-Zubair inlet for the benefit of Iraq. The commission curved the demarcation line southward in the regional Kuwaiti waters to pass by the low waters alongside Kuwaiti coasts far from the median recognised by Iraq and adopted by the international conventions. As a result of this demarcation reached by the Commission, Kuwait has been practically deprived of khor az-Zubair inlet and Iraq has full use of it. Kuwait accepted the commission decision according to its well-established policy that calls upon cooperation with the UN in its process to solve problems through peaceful means.
• Thus the documents prove that Iraq has not lost land or shores as it claims. In fact it won by land and sea as a result of the demarcation implement by the UN Commission.

Conclusion

In conclusion it can be said that Kuwait emerged as a sovereign state since the beginning of the seventeenth century AD. This is emphasised as the borders between the two regions: Kuwait and Iraq were conspicuous and delineated as shown in the early cartography works. The line that intersected Iraq from the Arabian Peninsula represented these borders. Kuwait had always been inside the Arabian Peninsula circle. This has been shown in a number of maps and charts that emerged in the nineteenth century in which Kuwait appeared as a distinctive region with its independent borders compared with the other surrounding regions.

Therefore, these maps recorded by cartographers in many countries and during different respective periods of time indicated Kuwaiti borders as a reality, which were known for more than three centuries. They help every fact finder to give judgement supported by academic proofs free from fallacy. Those cartographers were never bias or prejudiced. They were neutral working for the sake of work and recording the status quo. They stated reality they witnessed. Their neutral works refute allegations, arguments and illusions of hegemony.

Let’s objectively look and compare between Kuwait’s borders as mentioned in these maps and the resolutions attained by the United Nations Commission for Demarcating the Borders between Kuwait and Iraq in 1993. We can clearly find out the truth and authenticity of these maps. They are a true testimony endorsed by the whole world with its leaders, thinkers and all peoples who work for establishing peace and security in our world. To all of them, we send our gratitude and considerations.