HOME
*



picture info

Soqotra
Socotra or Soqotra (; ar, سُقُطْرَىٰ ; so, Suqadara) is an island of the Republic of Yemen in the Indian Ocean, under the ''de facto'' control of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, a secessionist participant in Yemen’s ongoing civil war. Lying between the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea and near major shipping routes, Socotra is the largest of the four islands in the Socotra archipelago. Since 2013, the archipelago has constituted the Socotra Governorate. The island of Socotra represents around 95% of the landmass of the Socotra archipelago. It lies south of the Arabian Peninsula, but is considered to be part of Africa. The island is isolated and home to a high number of endemic species. Up to a third of its plant life is endemic. It has been described as "the most alien-looking place on Earth." The island measures in length and in width. In 2008 Socotra was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2018, the United Arab Emirates invaded ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Soqotri People
The Soqotri people, sometimes referred to as Socotran, are a Semitic ethnic group native to the Gulf of Aden island of Socotra. They speak the Soqotri language, a Semitic language in the Afroasiatic family. General The Soqotri primarily inhabit the Socotra Archipelago, on Socotra island and the Abd al Kuri, Darsah and Samhah districts of the Amanat Al Asimah governorate, Yemen. According to Ethnologue, there are an estimated 71,400 Soqotri. As of the last 1990 Socotra census, they numbered around 57,000 individuals. Most Soqotri are Sunni Muslim. Historically, Soqotri were Nestorian Christians, ever since Christianisation of the island up until the 15th century, when the island was occupied by the Mehri Sultanate in 1480. This led to slow Islamisation of the Soqotri. Language The Soqotri speak the Soqotri language (also known as Saqatri, Socotri, Sokotri and Suqutri). It belongs to the Modern South Arabian languages which are closer to the Ethiopian Semitic languages th ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Hajhir Mountains
The Hajhir massif is a mountain range situated on the island of Socotra, Yemen. It is the highest point of the island. Geography The granite spires of the Hajhir massif are located in the hinterland of Soqotra and are most easily accessed via the valley approaches north of the coastal town of Hadibo. The highest point of the range is the peak of Mashanig which lies at approximately above sea level. Other peaks of local prominence include Girhimitin, Hazrat Muqadriyoun and Herem Hajhir. Etymology The name "Hajhir" ( Soqotri: ), sometimes transliterated as "Hagghier" or "Hagher" in English, likely derives from the Arabic "ḥijr" (, meaning "stone"). Other possible origins of the range's name include the word "hajar" ( ar, هجر, meaning "to flee"). The name "Mashanig" (Soqotri: , meaning "the split one"), likely derives from the Arabic verb "inshaq" (, meaning "to split"), from which one gets the word "munshuq" (, meaning "splittist"). Climbing history Bedouin goatherds have ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Peninsula, on the southeast by the Laccadive Sea and the Maldives, on the southwest by Somalia, and on the east by India. Its total area is 3,862,000 km2 (1,491,000 sq mi) and its maximum depth is 4,652 meters (15,262 ft). The Gulf of Aden in the west connects the Arabian Sea to the Red Sea through the strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, and the Gulf of Oman is in the northwest, connecting it to the Persian Gulf. Name The sea is named after Arabia, the historic name of the region to the west of the sea. The Arabian Sea's name in Arabic is ; in Persian it is دریای عرب; in Urdu it is بحیرہ عرب; in Hindi it is अरब सागर; in Gujarati it is અરબી સમુદ્ર; in Marathi it is ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. At , the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the Arabian Peninsula includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Yemen, as well as the southern portions of Iraq and Jordan. The largest of these is Saudi Arabia. In the classical era, the southern portions of modern-day Syria, Jordan, and the Sinai Peninsula were also considered parts of Arabia (see Arabia Petraea). The Arabian Peninsula formed as a result of the rifting of the Red Sea between 56 and 23 million years ago, and is bordered by the Red Sea to the west and southwest, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman to the northeast, the Levant and Mesopotamia to the north and the Arabian Sea and the Indian ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by the Southern Ocean or Antarctica, depending on the definition in use. Along its core, the Indian Ocean has some large marginal or regional seas such as the Arabian Sea, Laccadive Sea, Bay of Bengal, and Andaman Sea. Etymology The Indian Ocean has been known by its present name since at least 1515 when the Latin form ''Oceanus Orientalis Indicus'' ("Indian Eastern Ocean") is attested, named after Indian subcontinent, India, which projects into it. It was earlier known as the ''Eastern Ocean'', a term that was still in use during the mid-18th century (see map), as opposed to the ''Western Ocean'' (Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic) before the Pacific Ocean, Pacific was surmised. Conversely, Ming treasure voyages, Chinese explorers in the Indian Oce ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula and shares borders with Oman and Saudi Arabia, while having maritime borders in the Persian Gulf with Qatar and Iran. Abu Dhabi is the nation's capital, while Dubai, the most populous city, is an international hub. The United Arab Emirates is an elective monarchy formed from a federation of seven emirates, consisting of Abu Dhabi (the capital), Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain. Each emirate is governed by an emir and together the emirs form the Federal Supreme Council. The members of the Federal Supreme Council elect a president and vice president from among their members. In practice, the emir of Abu Dhabi serves as president while the ruler of Dubai is vice pre ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Southern Transitional Council
The Southern Transitional Council (STC; ''al-Majlis al-Intiqālī l-Janūbiyy'') is a secessionist organization in South Yemen. The 26 members of the STC include the governors of five southern governorates and two government ministers. It was formed by a faction of the Southern Movement, also known as ''al-Hirak al-Janoubi''. The Southern Movement was established in 2007, during the term of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, and it has called for and worked toward the separation of southern Yemen from the rest of the nation (as it previously was until 1990). Declared on 11 May 2017, the council is headed by the former Governor of Aden, Aidarus al-Zoubaidi, as president, with former minister of state Hani Bin Breik as vice-president. The formation of the council was authorized a week earlier by the Historic Aden Declaration, announced at a rally protesting the dismissal of al-Zoubaidi from his post as governor. The STC, a major party to the Yemeni Civil War, claims to rule mo ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Yemeni Civil War (2014–present)
{{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Yemeni Civil War , partof = the Yemeni Crisis (2011–present), Yemeni Crisis, Arab Winter, War on terror, and the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict , image = Yemeni Civil War.svg , width = 480px , image_size = 300px , caption = Political and military control in Yemen in October 2022 {{legend, #f98787, Cabinet of Yemen, Government of Yemen{{efn, Under the Presidential Leadership Council since April 2022 and Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen, allies {{legend, #cae7c4, Houthi movement, Houthis-led Supreme Political Council {{legend, #e3d975, Southern Transitional Council and other UAE-backed groups {{Legend, #afc6e9, lang=en, Local, non-aligned forces such as the Hadhramaut Tribal Alliance {{legend, #ffffff, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) {{legend, #b4b2ae, Islamic State – Yemen Province (IS-YP) (For a map of the military situation in Yemen and border areas ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Guardafui Channel
The Guardafui Channel ( so, Marinka Gardafuul) is an oceanic strait off the tip of the Horn of Africa that lies between the Puntland region of Somalia and Socotra to the west of the Arabian Sea. It connects the Gulf of Aden to the north with the Indian Ocean to the south. Its namesake is Cape Guardafui, the very tip of the Horn of Africa. Notable places of interest include the Alula Lagoon. Extent Its width is roughy between Ras Asir (Gardafuul) and Abd al Kari, and roughly between Ras Asir and Socotra. Gardafuul, a province of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, is named after it. In its narrower sense, Marinka Gardafuul, in English called the Guardafui Channel, refers to the strait between Puntland and Abd al Kuri. Names The oceanic strait goes by many names, including the ''Ras Hafun Strait'', named after the headland of Ras Hafun, near the town of Foar, the ''Ras Asir-Socotra Strait'', the ''Cape Guardafui Strait'', the Guardafui-Socotra Channel Guardafui Channel Cape ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Endemism
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can be also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or in scientific literature as an ''endemite''. For example '' Cytisus aeolicus'' is an endemite of the Italian flora. '' Adzharia renschi'' was once believed to be an endemite of the Caucasus, but it was later discovered to be a non-indigenous species from South America belonging to a different genus. The extreme opposite of an endemic species is one with a cosmopolitan distribution, having a global or widespread range. A rare alternative term for a species that is endemic is "precinctive", which applies to ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Republic Of Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and shares maritime borders with Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia. Yemen is the second-largest Arab sovereign state in the peninsula, occupying , with a coastline stretching about . Its constitutionally stated capital, and largest city, is Sanaa. As of 2021, Yemen has an estimated population of some 30.4 million. In ancient times, Yemen was the home of the Sabaeans, a trading state that included parts of modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea. Later in 275 AD, the Himyarite Kingdom was influenced by Judaism. Christianity arrived in the fourth century. Islam spread quickly in the seventh century and Yemenite troops were crucial in the early Islamic conquests. Several dynasties emerged in the 9th to 16th centuries, such as the Rasulid dynasty. The country ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, scientific or other form of significance. The sites are judged to contain " cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity". To be selected, a World Heritage Site must be a somehow unique landmark which is geographically and historically identifiable and has special cultural or physical significance. For example, World Heritage Sites might be ancient ruins or historical structures, buildings, cities, deserts, forests, islands, lakes, monuments, mountains, or wilderness areas. A World Heritage Site may signify a remarkable accomplishment of humanity, and serve as evidence of our intellectual history on the planet, or it might be a place of great natural beauty. A ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]