Palestine 1923 / Palestine Grid (EPSG:28191)
Mar 10,2026

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Introduction

Palestine 1923 / Palestine Grid (EPSG:28191) is a historic projected coordinate system established by the British Military Survey in 1923 to serve as the foundational mapping framework for the region . Developed under the Palestine 1923 datum, this system was meticulously designed to support cadastral surveying, engineering projects, and topographic mapping throughout the British Mandate period . While modern systems like Israeli TM Grid (EPSG:2039) have largely superseded it for contemporary applications, the Palestine Grid remains essential for interpreting the vast archive of 20th-century geographic data across Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Territory .

Coordinate System Composition

Palestine 1923 / Palestine Grid (EPSG:28191) is a Cassini-Soldner projection system based on the Palestine 1923 national datum, which utilizes the Clarke 1880 ellipsoid . The Cassini-Soldner projection was specifically selected for its suitability in narrow, longitudinally oriented countries and its widespread historical use for cadastral mapping and engineering surveys worldwide . The origin point of the projection system was strategically located near Jerusalem at the Mar Elias monastery hill, situated on the major triangulation point (82M) . The defining parameters were carefully chosen to ensure positive coordinate values across most of Palestine's triangulation network, though this decision resulted in the southern part of the Negev desert falling within negative coordinate territory . Coordinates are expressed in meters using easting and northing axes . The system's area of use encompasses Israel - onshore; Jordan; Palestine Territory - onshore, with WGS84 bounds approximately between 34.17°E to 39.31°E and 29.18°N to 33.38°N .

Pros

Historical National Standardization: Served as the official coordinate reference for all topographic mapping and engineering surveys throughout the British Mandate period, creating a unified geospatial framework for the region .
Optimized for Regional Geography: The Cassini-Soldner projection was deliberately chosen for its excellent performance in narrow, longitudinally oriented territories, providing consistent accuracy for cadastral and engineering applications across the region's elongated shape .
Extensive Archival Compatibility: Underpins the entire corpus of historical maps, land registry documents, and infrastructure plans from the 1920s through the mid-20th century, ensuring continuity in land administration and historical research .
Legal and Administrative Foundation: Remains embedded in historical cadastral records and boundary demarcations, where original surveying documentation forms the basis for current property rights in many areas .

Cons

Non-Geocentric Reference System: Based on the regional Clarke 1880 ellipsoid rather than modern global reference systems, its coordinates are inherently incompatible with GNSS measurements and require datum transformation parameters .
Cassini Projection Distortions: Unlike conformal projections (such as Transverse Mercator), the Cassini-Soldner projection does not preserve angles accurately, introducing measurable scale distortions, particularly in areas distant from the central meridian .
Negative Coordinate Values: The projection's origin placement, while ensuring positive values for most of the network, left the southern Negev region with negative coordinates, creating computational complexities and potential for sign errors in data processing .
Dual System Confusion: The existence of both the Palestine Grid (Cassini-Soldner, EPSG:28191) and the later Palestine Belt (Transverse Mercator, EPSG:28192) creates potential for misapplication, requiring users to correctly identify which historical projection applies to their specific dataset .
Modern Data Integration Challenges: Combining historical Palestine Grid maps with contemporary GPS or satellite data necessitates applying specific transformation parameters, introducing potential spatial inaccuracies when merging datasets from different eras .

Application Scenario

Palestine 1923 / Palestine Grid is primarily employed in historical data management, cultural heritage preservation, and legacy cadastral administration. It serves as the essential reference system for interpreting and georeferencing the extensive collection of British Mandate-era topographic maps, historical land registry documents, and early 20th-century infrastructure plans across Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Territory . The coordinate system is indispensable for archaeological research and cultural heritage documentation, enabling researchers to accurately position historical excavation records, legacy site plans, and early survey data within modern GIS environments . Academic studies have demonstrated its continued application in contemporary research, such as the HBIM (Historic Building Information Modeling) documentation of significant structures, where point cloud data from UAV surveys is georeferenced using the Palestine Grid to maintain consistency with historical records . Additionally, the system remains crucial for integrating historical agricultural land records, water resource management documents, and boundary demarcation surveys into modern geospatial analyses, particularly in rural and desert regions where historical surveying records continue to form the basis of current land rights and resource management .