Browse Items (453 total)

This map of the Caspian was created by Guillaume Delised and was based on recent information collected by Carl Vanverden in 1719, 1720 and 1721 at the request of tsar Peter I. The first map of the Caspian based on relatively accurate observations of…

This is a map consolidating all the above route maps, showing the region-wide priorities. While connections to Moscow were maintained, new destinations like Istanbul and Urumqi acquired new importance. But the network of inter-Central Asia flights…

Because railroad infrastructure is expensive and difficult to build, the Soviet-era network is still largely in place today, with new connections (between Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran, for example) coming online only in the last year. The rail…

University of Texas Perry Castañeda Library Map Collection

A quick look at the people in key positions of oil companies in the Middle East from the late 1800s to the early 1970s results in the same image across the board: white, middle-aged, Anglo-Saxon. While the initiatives of many of these oil companies…

An archival photo of Chernobyl "liquidators" involved in the initial cleanup after the nuclear disaster. These particular responders are on the roof of Reactor Three. Note the distortion at the bottom of the photograph from the high levels of…

This satellite image from Nasa's Earth Observatory displays the stunning contrast in landscape along the border between China and Kazakhstan.