Special libraries are defined in this paper as those libraries serving such institutions as government offices, private corporations, associations, and university departments. Information centers are similar to special libraries but provide personalized, high quality reference service, usually in science and technology, and often using mechanical or electronic methods for document code storage and retrieval. West Asia is that essentially moslem area bound by the United Arab Republic and Turkey on the West and West Pakistan on the East, reaching the border of the USSR on the North and the Arabian Sea on the South. It contains about twenty countries, depending on how the Gulf and Trucial States are counted, and two hundred million people, in an area of 3,500 by 2,000 miles. The USSR, Indian, Sudan, Libya, and Morocco are omitted from this area as being relatively separate from it in culture, orientation, or geography. While only a guess, it may be estimated that the area as a whole contains between 15,000 and 20,000 libraries of all kinds, of which perhaps 1,500 are special libraries or technical information centers. The majority of the grand total are very small school libraries with public libraries counting the second highest number. On the other hand, most of the better ones are either academic or special libraries. This survey is presented on a country by country basis. Fifteen of the countries were visited personally. (LI 004244 through 004261 and LI 004263 through 004267 are related.) (Author/NH)