City plan of 1970s Al Ain

(Hunting Surveys Ltd). Abu Dhabi State. Al Ain and District. Town Planning Dept. Al Ain Town.

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Scarce map of the city of Al Ain and the border with Oman, published in the first decade after unification and based on a detailed aerial photographic survey of Al Ain and surroundings compiled and produced by Hunting Surveys Limited in 1968. Only one copy of the 1968 map is listed on OCLC, while this post-unification edition appears to be unrecorded in institutions.

Hunting Surveys (also styled Hunting Geology and Geophysics) was an aerial surveying company based out of England and active on the Arabian Peninsula throughout much of the 20th century; the company used their fleet of specialized aircraft to produce many early aerial photographs of the newly unified UAE, which were in turn used to draw up maps with special focus on the geological formations and natural mineral resources of the new nation.

This map shows the northern ridge of Jebel Hafeet, farms and plantations, residential zones, industrial areas, defence installations near the Omani border, and the Buraimi Airstrip. The Al Ain region and Jebel Hafeet are of historical and environmental importance to the United Arab Emirates, and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in particular. The mountain is the site of at least one ancient ruin: an example of the "beehive tombs" found in the region, and serves as a tourist destination and wildlife area with a unique geological history; just across the border is the Buraimi oasis, subject of land disputes in the 1970s.

Light marginal soiling and creasing; professionally rebacked. Quite bright and clean.