This map, produced in 1946 by the Survey of Egypt, shows a scheme for air traffic control in the Middle East. The International Convention on Civil Aviation, adopted by 52 countries in 1944, provided for the establishment of an international air-traffic control system aimed at preventing aircraft collisions. The world’s airspace was to be divided into contiguous regions, within each of which all traffic would be controlled by a designated air-traffic control authority. On longer flights, aircraft are passed by radio from the control of one region to another. These regions, which later came to be known as Flight Information Regions (FIRs), are regulated by the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). This map shows the Middle East divided into six regions, centered on Cairo (Egypt), Khartoum (Sudan), Basra (Iraq), Aden (Yemen), Karachi (Pakistan), and Bangalore (India).