The first English edition of a landmark in the cartography of the UAE, the most detailed map of the region to be published to this point, just two years after the formal establishment of the UAE, on December 2, 1971.

The map illustrates, in the year before the Treaty of Jeddah (1974), the undefined borders between the UAE and Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and the UAE and Oman, all of which would go on to be contested.

In the Gulf, pearl fisheries are denoted in pink, while infrastructure including oil fields, airports, and water pipelines are also depicted. Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah are all marked, as are the villages around the Liwa Oasis. Below the map is an inset showing the UAE in its broader regional context, an inset showing the areas populated by different oil companies (including Abu Dhabi Oil Company, Pan Ocean Oil Company, and Dubai Petroleum Company), along with a table of oil production, between 1968 and 1972, and some explanatory text about the United Arab Emirates (which opens: "On 2/12/1971 the birth of the U.A.E. was announced").

This English edition would be issued simultaneously with an edition in Arabic.

The map was produced by Muhammad Morsi Abdullah (1929-2005), historian, cartographer, and social scientist, who would serve as the director for the Centre for Documentation and Research (precursor to the UAE National Archives). He was responsible for the first official maps both of Abu Dhabi and of the UAE and would write 'The United Arab Emirates: A Modern History', in 1978.

Ezzedin Ibrahim Mustafah (1928-2010) was an Egyptian-born scholar, who would serve as cultural adviser to Sheikh Zayed, playing a fundamental role in the establishment of the Cultural Foundation in Abu Dhabi, comprising: the National Archives, National Library, and Institute of Culture and Art. In recognition of his work, he would be granted citizenship of the UAE.