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The colonial possessions of Britain, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Denmark are shown on this mid-19th century map of Southeast Asia. There are inset maps of Penang Island and Singapore, and text describing the region’s colonial history.

Map of the Asian colonial possessions of the Netherlands (Dutch East Indies), with an inset of the heights of some of the region’s mountains. A note describes the average temperature, barometer reading and magnetic declination in Batavia at the time.

Map of Southeast Asia highlighting the colonial possessions of the Netherlands (Dutch East Indies), Spain (Philippines), Britain (Straits Settlements, Burma, part of Borneo) and Portugal (East Timor). From the German atlas ‘Stielers Handatlas’.

Map of the Asian colonial possessions of the Netherlands (Dutch East Indies), with an inset of the heights of some of the region’s mountains. A note describes the average temperature, barometer reading and magnetic declination in Batavia at the time.

On this map of Southeast Asia, British colonial territory is highlighted within red borders: the Straits Settlements (Singapore, Malacca and Penang) on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula; and British Burma (Chittagong and Aracan, and Tenasserim).

Map of the Asian colonial possessions of the Netherlands (Dutch East Indies), with an inset of the heights of some of the region’s mountains. A note describes the average temperature, barometer reading and magnetic declination in Batavia at the time.

Map of Southeast Asia highlighting the colonial possessions of the Netherlands (Dutch East Indies), Spain (Philippines), Britain (Straits Settlements, Burma, part of Borneo) and Portugal (East Timor). From the German atlas ‘Stielers Handatlas’.

Map of the Asian colonial possessions of the Netherlands (Dutch East Indies), with an inset of the heights of some of the region’s mountains. A note describes the average temperature, barometer reading and magnetic declination in Batavia at the time.

Map of the Asian colonial possessions of the Netherlands (Dutch East Indies), with an inset of the heights of some of the region’s mountains. A note describes the average temperature, barometer reading and magnetic declination in Batavia at the time.

This map focuses on maritime Southeast Asia, with coastal settlements, rivers, bays, islands, straits and seas named. Shoals and reefs are marked. The only land feature is the mountains of Borneo, represented by short lines/dashes (called hachures).

This map of Asia is from the mid-19th century ‘Grosser Atlas der Erde [Great Atlas of the Earth]’ by the German publisher Albrecht Platt. It shows part of Southeast Asia, including the region’s borders with India and China.

This title of this map refers to orography (which is shown in the use of hachures, short lines/dashes that give a sense of the shape and steepness of terrain) and hydrography (which is shown in the highlighting of coastal regions, shoals and reefs).