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The Jiri plain is an area of gravel plain extending across areas of Southern
Ras Al Khaimah Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) ( ar, رَأْس ٱلْخَيْمَة, historically Julfar) is the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. It is the sixth-largest city in UAE after Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain ...
, Eastern
Sharjah Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Sharjah is the capital ...
and Western
Fujairah Fujairah City ( ar, الفجيرة) is the capital of the emirate of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. It is the seventh-largest city in UAE, located on the Gulf of Oman (part of the Indian Ocean). It is the only Emirati capital city on the ...
, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The area, some 15 miles in length and 8 miles in breadth, is triangulated with the villages of
Khatt Khatt is a mountainous village south-east of the city of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. Famous for its hot springs, and latterly home to a spa hotel, there is evidence that Khatt has been a site of constant human settlement since the ston ...
and Habhab to the North; Adhen to the East and
Dhaid Dhaid, or Al Dhaid ( ar, ٱلذَّيْد, Adh-Dhayd), is the capital of the Central Region of the Emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. An oasis town, it has extensive irrigated date palm plantations with water channelled from the near ...
to the South. To the West the plain is enclosed by sand dunes. The soil of the Jiri plain is darkened by debris brought down by seasonal waters from the mountains, which helps to define its rich, loamy character and high carbonate content (from the outwash of Cretaceous limestone). The plan is thickly populated by
acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus nam ...
(''Acacia tortilis'') and ghaf trees, as well as
tamarisk The genus ''Tamarix'' (tamarisk, salt cedar, taray) is composed of about 50–60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa. The generic name originated in Latin and may refer to the Ta ...
and other hardy varieties. A number of deep
aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials ( gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characte ...
s run under the plain. The settled population of the area at the time of Lorimer's 1915 ''
Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf The ''Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia'' (nicknamed ''Lorimer'') is a two-volume encyclopedia compiled by John Gordon Lorimer. The ''Gazetteer'' was published in secret by the British government in India in 1908 and 1915 an ...
'' was some 1,000 strong, mostly members of the tribes of Awanat, Mazari,
Naqbiyin The Naqbiyin ( ar, النقبي, singular Al Naqbi) is a tribe of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). They are mostly settled within the emirates of Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah and have long been influential in the tribal politics of both emirates. B ...
, Sharqiyin (in the area of Wadi Ham) and some Zaab. The area was home to
Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arabs, Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert ...
of the Ghafalah,
Bani Qitab The Bani Qitab ( ar, بني كتب) is a tribe of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The singular form of the name, Al Ketbi, is a common family name in the Northern UAE today. Consisting of a settled southern section and a nomadic northern section, t ...
and the Khawatir section of the
Na'im The Na'im () (singular Al Nuaimi ) is an Arab tribe in the United Arab Emirates. The tribe is also present in other gulf countries. The Na'im is divided into three sections, the Al Bu Kharaiban, the Khawatir and the Al Bu Shamis (singular Al Sha ...
, who had been pushed north by their rivals, the
Bani Kaab The Bani Kaab ( ar, بني كعب) (singular Al Kaabi ar, الكعبي) is an Arab tribe in Oman and the United Arab Emirates, also evident in other Gulf countries. Origins The tribe is associated with the area around and to the north of the O ...
. The plain, together with that of Dhaid and
Madam Madam (), or madame ( or ), is a polite and formal form of address for Woman, women in the English language, often contracted to ma'am (pronounced in American English and this way but also in British English). The term derives from the French ...
, contains some of the most fertile and productive land in the UAE.


References

{{Reflist Plains of the United Arab Emirates