1939: Arabia

Arabia, a great peninsula of Southwestern Asia, occupies an area of approximately 1,000,000 square miles and contains a population estimated at about 10,000,000, chiefly of native, nomadic Arab tribes. The countries and political divisions of the Arabian peninsula are: Aden, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Trucial Oman, Yemen, and Bahrein Islands.

The situation in the Arab lands did not undergo any major changes during 1939, but general world unrest was not without exercising its influence upon Arabia. The largest part of the Arabian peninsula, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, continued its slow progress under the leadership of King Ibn Saud.

Standard Oil Concession.

An oil concession covering the entire kingdom was granted to the Standard Oil Company of California. The King received for the concession an immediate payment of $1,500,000 in gold. He is to receive $750,000 yearly during the years of exploration and prospecting. As soon as oil production begins, he will be entitled to royalties which will increase with production. The Standard Oil Company had previously held a concession in El Hasa, King Ibn Saud's province on the Persian Gulf. The new concession was received against fierce competition by Japanese, Germans and Italians. This very important concession increased America's interest in the Arabian peninsula. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was officially recognized by the United States, and the United States Minister to Egypt was also accredited to King Ibn Saud. The Standard Oil Company first struck oil in the El Hasa province in satisfactory quantities early in 1938. The prospects of important oil fields in Saudi Arabia seem very good. The resulting royalties will be of considerable importance to the financial strength of the Arabian Kingdom, and will enable the King to realize his intention of forming an army on modern lines.

Arabs in Palestine.

A certain unrest was noticeable in the first half of 1939 in the Arabic principalities along the Persian Gulf. These principalities are of strategic importance, as they form air bases for the protection of the British air lines to India and Australia. King Ibn Saud as well as the Kingdom of Iraq tried to exercise a growing influence in these principalities. Especially Kuwait, in the northwestern corner of the Persian Gulf, became the center of the rival ambitions of the two large Arabic kingdoms. But in spite of their rivalries for hegemony in Arabia, all Arab countries were united in their fight for the rights of Arabs in Palestine. The British Government recognized officially the fundamental interests of the Arab States in the fate and destiny of Palestine. Accordingly, the representatives of these states were invited to participate in the Round Table Conference in London in February 1939, and their advice was sought by the British Government. All states with large Arabic populations — Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Yemen and Egypt — participated in these conferences and were represented partly by princes of the royal houses, and partly by members of the cabinets. (See also PALESTINE; RELIGION: Jews.)

Arabs in Trans-Jordan.

The Arab state of Trans-Jordan, which forms part of the British mandated territory of Palestine but which had been constituted sixteen years ago as an independent state under British protection amended its treaty with Great Britain in a way which gave freer scope to the native legislative and executive powers. Great Britain promised also to increase her annual grant to the Trans-Jordanian treasury. The Trans-Jordanian army is to be enlarged and modernized, and the country received the right to maintain its own consulates in the neighboring Arab countries. (See also TRANS-JORDAN.)

International Relations.

The international situation at the end of the year found the Arabic lands in general sympathy with the western democracies and their war aims. Although the Arabs were in no way in agreement with British and much less even with French policy in the Near and Middle East, nevertheless, they preferred by far cooperation with Great Britain and France to the danger of falling under Italian or German domination and seeing their lands subject to colonization by Italian or German immigrants. The conclusion of Turkey's treaty with Great Britain and France facilitated Arab determination to side with the democracies in the European War which started in September 1939. See also IRAQ; SAUDI ARABIA.