PREFACE In January 1950 the Research Division completed a study entitled The Eastern Reaches of al-Hasa Province in which detailed information was set forth on the eastern parts of this province of Saudi Arabia that lies next to the Persian Gulf. In that study atten tion was focused on a number of tribes subject to the Saudi Govern ment and areas inhabited by them. For a well rounded understand ing of the region, however, one should also be acquainted with adjacent lands whose status is undefined or which are clearly under the control of other governments. The present study is therefore complementary to the earlier one in that it aims to present sufficient data to provide an adequate introduction to these adjacent lands. There are no boundaries fixed by international agreement in the lands under consideration here, so that one cannot say with finality where Saudi territory ends and the territory of any of the adjacent states begins. After negotiations extending over a period of about fifteen years, the Saudi Government in 1949 proposed pre cisely defined lines to serve as land boundaries between Saudi Arabia and Qatar on the one hand and between Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi on the other hand, but the British Government in represent ing the governments of Qatar and Abu Dhabi has not yet accepted these proposals. This study is an attempt to bring to light the truth regarding areas where boundaries on the mainland happen to be in dispute; it is not, however, exclusively an investigation of boundary problems. While the information contained herein will be of value to those who are actively engaged in the endeavor to settle the boundary problems that now exist, it will also serve a wider purpose in providing those interested in Arabian affairs with an opportunity to become more familiar with one of the least known corners of the Peninsula. Every effort has been made by the compilers to present as impartial a report ix
