[Baha’i World Map]

“The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.” – Bahaullah

This uncommon map of the world provides a vibrant overview of the expansion of the Baha’i religion during the mid-20th century. A woefully outdated base map has been overprinted with a variety of lines and symbols, explained by the legend in the lower right.

A myriad of organizational institutions are noted throughout, while paths of growth emanate from the twelve established national assemblies, each represented with a large colored dot. Underlined nations, 128 in total, are considered ‘already opened to the faith’, though a number of African nations and Soviet dependencies remain inaccessible. Large numbers of planned assemblies, Mashriqu’l-Adhkár (houses of worship), and national endowments reflect the growing popularity of the newest major world religion, established by Baha’u’llah in Iran during the 1840s.

The map was published in Rome by Casetti, probably around 1953 as part of Shoghi Effendi’s Ten-Year Crusade. A similar map, using the same base and style, has been found in the Bahai Library Online, but I have been unable to find other examples of this edition in OCLC or other online repositories.

Sources: Bahai Library; British Library; Bahai Encyclopedia;