The Liwa Oasis ( ar, وَاحَـة لِـيْـوَا, Wāḥḥat Līwā) is a large

oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

area in the Western Region of the

Emirate of Abu Dhabi The Emirate of Abu Dhabi (, , or ; ar, إِمَارَةْ أَبُوظَبِي , ) is one of seven emirates that constitute the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is by far the largest emirate, accounting for 87% of the nation's total land area o ...

, the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...

Geography

Liwa Oasis is about south of the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...

coast and southwest of the city of

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dha ...

, on the northern edge of

Rub' al Khali The Rub' al KhaliOther standardized transliterations include: / . The ' is the assimilated Arabic definite article, ', which can also be transliterated as '. (; ar, ٱلرُّبْع ٱلْخَالِي (), the "Empty Quarter") is the sand des ...

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

. It is centered around and stretches about east-west, along an arch curved to the north. It consists of some 50 villages. The geographic and economic center of the oasis is Muzayri`, where the highway from Abu Dhabi enters the oasis and then divides to the east ( to the easternmost village, Mahdar Bin `Usayyan) and west ( to the westernmost village, `Aradah). According to the census of population of 2005, the population was 20,196. Earlier estimates judging from satellite images which gauged the population at 50,000 to 150,000, were too high. The villages of Liwa Oasis are the southernmost settlements of Abu Dhabi and of the

. The southern border of Abu Dhabi with

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...

, which runs at a distance between to the Oasis, is a straight line in the Rub al Khali desert, which is largely uninhabited. Mahdar Bin `Usayyan is the southernmost village of the Emirates, and also the easternmost of the oasis. south of the border, and south of the eastern part of the oasis is the Saudi oil facility

Shaybah Shaybah, also called as Zararah, is a settlement dominated by a major crude oil production oil site, the Shaybah oil field, in Saudi Arabia, located approximately from the northern edge of the Rub' Al-Khali ("Empty Quarter") desert. It is about ...

. However, there is no road linking Liwa Oasis and Shaybah, and no border crossing. A modern, multi-lane highway connects the oasis area to the capital, Abu Dhabi.

Villages

The

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

Geographic Names Database lists 39 populated places in the area of the oasis, which are listed from west to east in the following table.

Economy

An important traditional branch of the economy is date farming. There is a widespread use of

drip irrigation Drip irrigation or trickle irrigation is a type of micro-irrigation system that has the potential to save water and nutrients by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either from above the soil surface or buried below the surface. ...

and

greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown.These ...

s. The importance of tourism is on the rise. There are several hotels in the area including the Liwa Hotel in Muzayri`, Tilal Liwa Hotel, the Liwa Rest House in the same village and run by the government of Abu Dhabi, and the resort Qasr Al Sarab. The nearby

Moreeb dune Moreeb Dune or Tal Moreeb () is a large sized sand dune located in proximity of Liwa Oasis at the Empty Quarter desert in the United Arab Emirates. With a reported 50 degree slipface, and height of 300 metres, the dune is popular for organised dr ...

(), south of Muzayri`, is high, and is one of the largest dunes in the world. It attracts people every year during the Liwa festival a large number of international and local visitors coming to see the offroad and camel racing events.

History

The oasis is the place of birth of the ruling families of Abu Dhabi and

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, wikt:دبي, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates#Major cities, most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 ...

. In 1793, the ruling family

Al Nahyan The House of Nahyan ( ar, آل نهيان, Āl Nohayān) are one of the six ruling families of the United Arab Emirates, and are based in the capital Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Al Nahyan is a branch of the House of Al Falahi (Āl Bū Fal ...

moved their residence from Liwa to the Abu Dhabi. Traditionally, men from Liwa (

Bani Yas Bani Yas ( ar, بَنُو ياس) is a tribal confederation of Najdi origin in the United Arab Emirates. The tribal coalition which consists of tribes from Dubai to Khawr al Udayd southeast of Qatar, was called the Bani Yas Coalition. The tribe has ...

tribe) were

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

divers on the coast during the summer months.

Pearl diving Pearl hunting, also known as pearling, is the activity of recovering pearls from wild molluscs, usually oysters or mussels, in the sea or freshwater. Pearl hunting was prevalent in the Persian Gulf region and Japan for thousands of years. On ...

offered an additional source of income.

In popular culture

East of Liwa Oasis, in the

Rub' Al Khali The Rub' al KhaliOther standardized transliterations include: / . The ' is the assimilated Arabic definite article, ', which can also be transliterated as '. (; ar, ٱلرُّبْع ٱلْخَالِي (), the "Empty Quarter") is the sand des ...

desert, was the set of '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' and it was used to represent

Jakku Jakku is a fictional desert planet in the '' Star Wars'' universe, first featured in the 2015 film ''The Force Awakens''. Remote, lawless, and inhospitable, it is the homeworld of sequel trilogy protagonist Rey, played by Daisy Ridley, and ''Aft ...

, a

desert planet A desert planet, also known as a dry planet, an arid planet, or a dune planet, is a theoretical type of terrestrial planet with a surface consistency similar to Earth's hot deserts. History A 2011 study suggested that not only are life-sustaini ...

. Desert scenes of

Sonic the Hedgehog (film) ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' is a 2020 Action film#Action-adventure comedy, action-adventure comedy film based on the Sonic the Hedgehog, video game series of the same name published by Sega. Directed by Jeff Fowler (in his feature directorial debut) ...

were filmed in Liwa Oasis. The desert landscape of Liwa was filmed to represent the planet

Arrakis Arrakis ()—informally known as Dune and later called Rakis—is a fictional desert planet featured in the ''Dune'' series of novels by Frank Herbert. Herbert's first novel in the series, 1965's ''Dune'', is considered one of the greatest scien ...

in the 2021 film ''

Dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

''.

Gallery

File:Desert ripples (4184941765).jpg, The desert in the outskirts of Liwa Oasis File:Desert - panoramio (6).jpg, Sand dunes overlooking Liwa Oasis File:Further still (4184933045).jpg, Desert around Liwa File:Liwa Desert.JPG, Liwa desert File:Road to Tal Moreb (4185679430).jpg, Road to

Tal Moreeb Moreeb Dune or Tal Moreeb () is a large sized sand dune located in proximity of Liwa Oasis at the Empty Quarter desert in the United Arab Emirates. With a reported 50 degree slipface, and height of 300 metres, the dune is popular for organised dr ...

File:Castle - panoramio (22).jpg, Qasr Al Sarab in Liwa File:Mezairaa Fort.jpg, Mezairaa Fort File:Sand Gazelle 2.jpg, Arabian sand gazelle in Liwa

References

External links

Liwa Desert Activities
{{Authority control Western Region, Abu Dhabi Oases of the United Arab Emirates