Survey of Palestine facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

This page is about the mapping of Israel during the mandate period. For other uses, see Survey of Palestine (disambiguation).

Metulla

Haifa

Safad

Zikhron
Yaaqov

Nazareth

Jaffa
Tel Aviv

Nablus

Yibna

Ramle

Jerusalem

Gaza

Hebron

Dead Sea

Rafah

Beersheba

Jebel
Usdum

Nitsana

Ovdat

Nahal
Haarava

Har
Lotz

Har
Omer

Har
Tzenifim

Yotvata

Eilat

Survey of Israel 1942–1958 1–100,000 Topographical maps. Click on each blue link to see the individual original maps in high resolution. The italicized links represent post-1948 maps, printed by the successor organization.

The Survey of Palestine was a government group that mapped the land of Palestine when it was under British rule. This time period is known as the British mandate period.

This mapping department started in 1920 in Jaffa. Later, in 1931, it moved to the edge of Tel Aviv. The department created the Palestine grid, which was a special system for mapping the area. In 1948, as the British rule ended, a temporary leader was chosen for the mapping department of the new Jewish State. This department then became the Survey of Israel.

The maps made by the Survey of Palestine have been very important. They have been used by experts to study the movement of people during the 1948 events. For example, they appear in books like Atlas of Palestine by Salman Abu Sitta and All That Remains by Walid Khalidi. In 2019, these maps were also used to create Palestine Open Maps, a project supported by the Bassel Khartabil Free Culture Fellowship.

Mapping Palestine: A Look at Its History
Solving Land Disputes Through Mapping
Important Maps and Publications
Laws About Surveying
Leaders of the Survey Department
Where the Headquarters Were Located
Images for kids
More Maps of Jerusalem and Its Surroundings (1945)
Earliest 1:20,000 Maps Available
See also

Mapping Palestine: A Look at Its History

This map shows how much land was surveyed by 1947. It closely matches the area planned for the "Jewish State" in the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine.

Maps from 1944 (1:250,000 scale) made by the Survey Department of Palestine

Before the British took control of Palestine, two important surveys had already happened. The first was the PEF Survey of Palestine between 1872 and 1880. The second was a set of smaller maps made by General Allenby's Royal Engineers. These maps were for the 1915–18 Sinai and Palestine war. The British War Office and the Survey of Egypt also made maps of the wider region, including Syria and Transjordan.

Why Mapping Was Important

After the British started their rule, the Zionist Organization pushed for a quick survey of the land. This was to help with buying land for Jewish settlement. They wanted to find out which land could be bought. This included private land, government land, and other types.

However, many Palestinian Arabs did not like the survey. They worried it was a way to take their land. This was because the land laws were very different from the older Ottoman laws. The new system needed clear proof of ownership.

How the Survey Was Done

By 1930, the main mapping network was finished. This network used a method called triangulation. It involved measuring 105 large points and about 20,000 smaller points.

A detailed survey at a scale of 1:10,000 was done by 1934. After that, a property survey (1:2,500 scale) was completed. These surveys were used to create the larger 1:20,000 and 1:100,000 scale maps.

Changes in Land Rules

In 1940, the department stopped handling land ownership disputes. It focused only on mapping. In February 1940, new rules called the Land Transfer Regulations were made. These rules divided Palestine into three areas with different limits on land sales.

Zone "A" included the hill-country of Judea, parts of Jaffa, the Gaza District, and northern Beersheba. In this zone, selling land to anyone other than a Palestinian Arab was not allowed without special permission.
Zone "B" included the Jezreel Valley, eastern Galilee, a coastal area south of Haifa, and parts of the Gaza and Beersheba districts. Here, Palestinian Arabs could only sell land to other Palestinian Arabs, with some exceptions.
The "free zone" included Haifa Bay, the coastal plain from Zikhron Ya'akov to Yibna, and the area around Jerusalem. In this zone, there were no limits on land sales.

These rules were put in place to protect the rights of all people living there. The government wanted to make sure that Arab farmers could keep their way of life and not become landless.

Growth and Challenges

By the time of the 1947–1949 Palestine war, the Survey of Palestine had finished making topographical maps for almost all the country, except the southern Negev desert. However, they had only officially confirmed land ownership for less than 20% of the country. This was mostly in areas where Jewish settlements were located. In the areas that became the West Bank, a full land ownership survey was not done until after 1948. This caused problems later on.

The department grew a lot during the British rule. In 1921, it had 46 experts. By 1942, it had 215 experts. Most of these experts were from Palestine itself. The Survey of Palestine printed many maps: 1,800 in 1926, 19,000 in 1929, 64,000 in 1933, and 100,000 in 1939. They also opened two schools to train Palestinian and Arab surveyors.

In early 1948, as the British rule ended, temporary leaders were chosen for the mapping departments of the expected "Jewish State" and "Arab State." The existing maps and files were supposed to be shared. However, during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, British trucks carrying the maps meant for the "Arab state" were sent back to Tel Aviv. Today, these old maps are kept in places like the Survey of Israel, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Israeli government archives.

Solving Land Disputes Through Mapping

In 1937, Lieutenant Colonel F. J. Salmon, who was in charge of Lands and Surveys, explained why the department's work was so important for buying land.

He said that in the past, under Ottoman rule, land ownership papers in Palestine were often unclear. They didn't have accurate maps showing the shape, size, or exact location of land. Descriptions were often confusing. Also, the size of the land, which was used for taxes, was often made to look smaller to save money for the owner.

Large areas of land were often shared by many owners without clear borders. These owners might even change the location of their plots each year. Buying land from an owner, especially one without clear papers, was very risky.

However, this problem was slowly being fixed by "Land Settlement." This process involved recording and checking land claims. Disputes were handled by British Land Settlement Officers. Even in areas not yet settled, a landowner could ask for official registration of their land based on a modern survey. If there was a dispute, it would go to the Land Court. This was a slower and more expensive process than having a Settlement Officer decide.

Important Maps and Publications

The Survey of Palestine created many different types of maps:

1:100,000 topographical maps: These maps show the shape of the land. By 1938, they were finished for the area as far south as Beersheba. (See here and a list of places here).
1:250,000 administrative maps: These maps showed administrative areas. A three-sheet map was made after the 1:100,000 maps. (See here).
"Palestine Index to Villages & Settlements": This map showed all villages and settlements, usually on a single sheet at 1:250,000 scale. It was often used as a base for other maps. (See here).
1:500,000 motor map: This map was for drivers. (See here).
1:20,000 topographical-cadastral maps: These maps showed both land features and property boundaries. By 1940, 45 of these maps were published, mainly for the coastal area. By 1948, about 150 sheets were published, covering the whole country north of Beersheba. (See here).
Jerusalem 1:10,000 and 1:2,500 maps: In 1936, a detailed 1:2,500 map of the Old City of Jerusalem was made. This was the first detailed map since 1865. Later, 1:5,000 plans of Jerusalem were made and then made smaller to 1:10,000 for general use. (See here).
Historic maps: The department also made maps about history, such as "Map of Roman Palestine" (1936), "Palestine of the Crusades" (1937), and "Palestine of the Old Testament" (1939).

Laws About Surveying

The British government created laws to control surveying, surveyors, and survey fees.

Cadastral Survey Ordinance 1920: This law started in July 1920. It first applied to Gaza and Beersheba, then to the whole country by February 1921.
Land Surveyors Ordinance 1925: This law, from May 1925, said that all land property records had to be based on an approved map. It also set rules for all survey maps.
Land Settlement Ordinance 1928: This law set up the Torrens system for registering land ownership. This system makes land ownership very clear.
Survey Ordinance, Surveyors Regulations 1930: This law required certain metric scales for maps, like "an even multiple of 1:10,000." For individual properties, it required scales like "1:2,500, 1:625, or larger."
Survey Ordinance, Surveyors Regulations 1938: This was an update to the earlier rules. It stayed in place until Israel's Surveyors Regulations of 1965.

Leaders of the Survey Department

Here are the people who led the Survey of Palestine:

June – Dec.1920: Major Cecil Verdon Quinlan
1920–1931/2: Major Cuthbert Hilliard Ley
1931–1933: Robert Barker Crusher (acting leader)
1933–1938: Lieutenant Colonel Frederick John Salmon (called "Commissioner of Lands and Surveys")
1938–1939: James Nelson Stubbs (acting leader)
1940–1948: Andrew Park Mitchell

Where the Headquarters Were Located

The main office of the Survey Department of Palestine in 1930

The first main office in early 1920 was in Gaza City. A few months later, it moved to Jaffa. On January 1, 1931, a special building was opened for the department. It was located at the southern end of a 30-acre plot near the German Templar colony on the edge of Tel Aviv. (You can see its location on this 1930 map).

Some people believed that placing the main office in the coastal plain, which was favored for Zionist settlement, showed a strong connection between mapping Palestine and Zionist goals. Other government offices were in Jerusalem, but proposals to move the survey office there in 1925, 1928, and 1935 were not successful.