Search

The United States Treasury Department produced this map of trade routes crossing the Pacific Ocean between the United States and Asia. Each route is labelled with the names of its ports, and with the distance between them in miles.

Dutch-language map of Asia, with mainland Southeast Asia labelled ‘Achter Indie [Beyond India]’.

Dutch-language map of Asia, with mainland Southeast Asia labelled ‘Achter Indie [Beyond India]’.

Southeast Asia is on sheet four of this map. British colonial territory—British Burma, the Straits Settlements, Sarawak, Brunei, British North Borneo—is highlighted in red, with Dutch, Spanish, French and Portuguese territory also shown.

Map of Asia featuring steamship routes—including around Southeast Asia—connecting ports such as Penang, Singapore, Batavia (Jakarta), Saigon, Bangkok, Rangun (Yangon), Manila, Macassar (Makassar) etc. There is also an inset map of Singapore.

Map of stream ship trade routes around Southeast Asia. Rivers, railways, submarine telegraph cables, lighthouses (fixed, revolving and flashing), graving docks and coaling stations are marked. An inset map shows a railway route from Britain to Asia.

Southeast Asia is on sheet four of this map. British colonial territory—British Burma, the Straits Settlements, Sarawak, British North Borneo—is highlighted in red, with the Dutch East Indies, Spanish Philippines and Portuguese East Timor also shown.

This map of Asia is from ‘Stieler’s Schul-Atlas’, a version of ‘Stielers Handatlas’ that was used widely in German schools in the 19th century.

This map of Asia is from ‘Stieler’s Schul-Atlas’, a version of ‘Stielers Handatlas’ that was used widely in German schools in the 19th century.

A nautical chart of the Indian Ocean showing bathymetry (sea depth), including in great detail around the seas and straits of Southeast Asia.

On this map of Southeast Asia, numerous small islands, shoals and reefs are marked and named, especially in the South China Sea and around the Sunda and Maluku islands. Submarine cables to carry telegraph messages around the region are also shown.

This 1883 map shows European colonial territories in Southeast Asia. An inset map details the proposed French annexation of Tonquin, Annam and Cochin China (modern Vietnam). International telegraph lines are also marked.