The Political Map

The gradual decline of the Ottoman Empire in the nineteenth century and the growing ambitions and rivalries of the European powers, provide the background to the emergence of the modern political map. The broad outlines of the modern political map were established earlier in North Africa than in Sothwest Asia. Several changes have occurred to the political map of the Middle East and North Africa during the past 60 years. So far, approximately one fifth of the potential maritime boundaries associated with Middle Eastern and North African states have been formally agreed. Like so much of the political map of the world, the pattern of states in the Middle East was largely the creation of European interference. Progress towards offshore boundary delimitation has thus been slow, and the completion of the offshore map may take several decades. One region where the political map may be expected to change is in the Arab territories occupied by Israel in June 1967.