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In the 18th century, European maps tended to use their own country’s meridian, so on this French map of Southeast Asia longitude is measured from the Paris Meridian. Eleven different scales are also shown.

Coloured borders on this map show the kingdoms of mainland Southeast Asia and the Philippines. Arrows marked on the sea to the west of the Philippines indicate wind direction during the monsoon seasons (with the months marked in French).

The arrows on this map show the direction of the seasonal monsoons of Southeast Asia during the late 18th century. Each arrow has a label in French, indicating the month. The hatched sea areas are where the winds always blow in the same direction.