Velarde map
Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Islas Filipinas (Spanish, lit. ""Hydrographical and Chorographical Chart of the Philippine Islands""), more commonly known as the Murillo Velarde map, is a map of the Philippines made and first published in Manila in 1734 by the Spanish Jesuit cartographer Pedro Murillo Velarde, and two Filipinos; engraver Nicolás de la Cruz Bagay and artist Francisco Suárez. The World Digital Library describes it as the "first and most important scientific map of the Philippines". It is frequently referred to as the "Mother of all Philippine Maps". During the British Occupation of Manila, the copper  plates used to print the map were seized and transported to England where they were used to produce multiple copies of the map before the plates were destroyed and reused. Many of the most famous and expensive copies were from this re-printing. The Map. The map's title includes the following additional description: "dedicada al Rey Nuestro Señor por el Mariscal d. Campo D. Fernando Valdes Tamon Cavallo del Orden de Santiago de Govor. Y Capn General de dichas Yslas" (Spanish, "dedicated to the King Our Lord by Field Marshal Fernando Tamon Valdes, Knight of the Order of Santiago , Governor and Captain General of said Islands"). The map was created upon the behest of then governor-general Fernando Valdes y Tamon in response to an order from Philip V of Spain. The map shows maritime routes from Manila to Spain and New Spain. The Spanish royal coat of arms occupies a prominent space in the upper-middle portion of the map. On its flanks are twelve images, six to a side. Eight of these images depict various ethnic groups residing in the archipelago. The remaining four are cartographic depictions of cities and islands. The ethnic groups and individuals depicted  include Chinese Filipinos ("Sangley"), Cafres or East Africans brought to Manila slave market by Portuguese, a Canarin (a native of India on the Konkani coast, most likely a Goan or Mangalorean), a Lascar from India, Filipino Mestizos in Spanish Colonial Philippines, a Mardica (natives of Ternate and Tidore that migrated to the Philippines such as in Ternate, Cavite and Tanza, Cavite), a Japanese migrant in the Philippines ("Japon"), Spaniards or Spanish Filipinos, Spanish Criollos, Filipino Natives ("Indios"), Aetas, an Armenian, a Mughal, a native of the Malabar region and a Visayan. Maps of "Samboagan" (known today as Zamboanga City, a  city in Mindanao), the port of Cavite, the island of "Guajan" (Guam) and Manila, and illustrations of endemic plants and animals occupy the remaining sections. The Murillo Velarde map was widely reprinted. These include reproductions in Manila (1744), Vienna (1748) by Kaliwoda, Nuremberg (1760) by Lowitz, and in the first volume of Juan de la Concepcion's "Historia General de Philipinas" (1788). Copies. There are less than 50 extant copies of the map. Some are mounted on a cloth backing measuring 112x120 cm. The map itself measures 108x71 cm and is on a scale approximating 1:1,400,000. Reduced version. Murillo Velarde  also published a smaller version of the "Carta Hydrographica y Chorographica de las Yslas Filipinas", one that did not include the twelve illustrations on the map's flanks. This version measures 51x33 cm. and was published in 1744. There are extant copies in the collections of the Lopez Museum, National Library of the Philippines and the Boston Public Library Norman B. Leventhal Map Center. South China Sea disputes. The Murillo Velarde map has been instrumental in the Philippines' efforts to assert territorial rights in the South China Sea. The map, along with 270 other maps, was used by the Philippines ' team of experts to refute China's historic claim of ownership of the entire South China Sea, as it features Scarborough Shoal then labelled as ""Panacot"" as well as ""Los Bajos de Paragua"", now known as the Spratly Islands. In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in favor of the Philippines stating that China had "no historical rights" based on their Nine-Dash Line map. China however, rejected the ruling, and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has decided not to act upon it.