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On this map of Asia, the South China Sea is labelled ‘Malayan Sea’. Small islands, shoals and reefs are shown. A label in Cochin China (Vietnam) reads ‘mountains inhabited by the uncivilized people called Kemoys’.

Map of Asia, marked with populations of cities and lengths of rivers. Mainland Southeast Asia is divided into kingdoms, but maritime Southeast Asia is mostly blank, and parts such as Java and the Lesser Sunda Islands are left off entirely.

On this map of Asia, the South China Sea is labelled ‘Malayan Sea’. Small islands, shoals and reefs are shown. A label in Cochin China (Vietnam) reads ‘mountains inhabited by the uncivilized people called Kemoys’.

Map of Asia, marked with populations of cities and lengths of rivers. Mainland Southeast Asia is divided into kingdoms, but maritime Southeast Asia is mostly blank, and parts such as Java and the Lesser Sunda Islands are left off entirely.

Four-sheet map of Asia from Carl Ritter’s book ‘Erdkunde [Geography]’, including the northwest Birman Empire (Myanmar) and featuring rivers, mountains, administrative districts and settlements. Plus a page of elevations of Asian mountain ranges.

Four-sheet map of Asia from Carl Ritter’s book ‘Erdkunde [Geography]’, including the northwest Birman Empire (Myanmar) and featuring rivers, mountains, administrative districts and settlements. Plus a page of elevations of Asian mountain ranges.

Colonial possessions of the Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese, as well as lands of ‘indigenous princes’ are marked with coloured borders on this map of maritime Southeast Asia. Hot springs and mineral water springs in Java are also listed.

This map from 1800 is by the Scottish cartographer Alexander Dalrymple, who was the first Hydrographer of the British Admiralty. It documents the river systems of the Birman Empire (Myanmar) and modern Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.