This map was commissioned by Abd al-Karim Qasim, leader of the Iraqi Republic, in 1960. The purpose of the map, which is heavily propagandistic, is to convey the greatness of the Arab League and Iraq's central role in its development.
The Arab League was founded on 22 March 1945 with the aim of promoting greater cooperation for the joint growth of the region. The United Kingdom played an important role, as it hoped that the creation of this league would enable it to maintain its considerable influence in the region.
There were seven founding members: Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria and North Yemen. They were later joined by Libya (1953), Sudan (1956), Morocco (1958) and Tunisia (1958). This map goes further and attempts to cover all countries where Arabic is the lingua franca. To do this, it highlights some of the countries and regions with the flags found on the left and right:
- United Arab Republic (Egypt and Syria)
- Tunisia
- Sudan
- Libya
- Morocco
- Kingdom of Yemen (North Yemen)
- Algeria
- Iraqi Republic
- Lebanon
- Saudi Arabia
- Jordan
- Kuwait
- Hadhramaut (a region in southern Yemen)
- Bahrain
- Palestine
As a curious detail, the map still marks northern Morocco as Spanish territory, even though this territory was ceded to Morocco in 1958, before this map was published.
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