Ad Dimaniyat Islands | |
---|---|
Daymaniyat Islands | |
Map of Oman | |
Location | Muscat Governorate, Oman |
Nearest city | Barka |
Coordinates | 23°51′22″N58°04′30″E / 23.856°N 58.075°E [1] |
Area | 100 ha (250 acres) |
Juzor Ad Dimaniyat Lighthouse | |
Foundation | concrete base |
Construction | metal skeletal tower |
Height | 16 m (52 ft) |
Shape | square pyramidal skeletal tower [2] [3] |
Power source | solar power |
Focal height | 31 m (102 ft) |
Range | 15 nmi (28 km; 17 mi) |
Characteristic | Fl W 10s |
The Ad Dimaniyat Islands are a protected area in the Gulf of Oman.
The islands are mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea as the Calaei Islands being derived from Kalhat, a former major Phoenician trade city north of Sur that acted as a last stop for trade to and from Arabia and India. It is suggested that the natives of the city migrated to Kalat which shares a similar name. [4]
The Nature Reserve is located in Wilayat AlSeeb in the Muscat Governorate and lies about 18 kilometres (11 mi) off the coast of Barka (70 kilometres (43 mi) west of Muscat, the capital). It is composed of nine islands with a total area of 100 hectares (250 acres). Locally, the islands go by the names Kharabah, Huyoot, Al Jabal Al Kabeer (Um As Sakan). The latter is divided into two islands: Um Al Liwahah (Minaret) and Al Jawn, which includes three islands.
The reserve has a rich natural heritage with several kinds of coral reefs, including some examples that are quite rare. The island is home to a large number of sea turtles that lay their eggs and nest there, as well as being a magnet for migratory and resident birds.
The archipelago has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports breeding sooty gulls, bridled, roseate and white-cheeked terns, as well as sooty falcons. Green and hawksbill sea turtles nest on the beaches. [5]
Fans of camping and diving now pay more for their satisfaction, after the decree of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Climate Affairs. [6] Expatriates pay OMR10, while locals pay OMR5. Before the new rule, everyone paid OMR1 for entering the islands, OMR3 for diving, OMR5 for camping or OMR7 for the whole package.
Under the new law, non-Omanis will have to pay OMR3 per day for a visit, OMR6 for diving and OMR10 for diving and overnight camping. Approval of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Climate Affairs is required to visit the islands, which was also the case with the previous law. Stay on the island is allowed for a maximum of 5 days, and the number in the group must not exceed 12 people. [7]
The Arabian Sea is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and on the southeast by the Laccadive Sea and the Maldives, on the southwest by Somalia. Its total area is 3,862,000 km2 (1,491,000 sq mi) and its maximum depth is 5,395 meters. 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.
The Khuriya Muriya Islands are a group of five islands in the Arabian Sea, 40 km (25 mi) off the southeastern coast of Oman. The islands form part of the province of Shalim and the Hallaniyat Islands in the governorate of Dhofar.
Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia. It overlooks the mouth of the Persian Gulf. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The capital and largest city is Muscat. Oman has a population of about 5.28 million as of 2024, which is a 4.60% population increase from 2023. and is the 123rd most-populous country. The coast faces the Arabian Sea on the southeast, and the Gulf of Oman on the northeast. The Madha and Musandam exclaves are surrounded by United Arab Emirates on their land borders, with the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman forming Musandam's coastal boundaries.
Oman is a site of pre-historic human habitation, stretching back over 100,000 years. The region was impacted by powerful invaders, including other Arab tribes, Portugal and Britain. Oman, at its height, held holdings that ranged from the Persian Gulf all the way south to the island of Madagascar, some notable holdings include; the island of Zanzibar, the city of Mogadishu and the city of Gwadar.
Oman is a country on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula, situated in West Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, and Persian Gulf, between Yemen and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The coast of Oman was an important part in the Omani empire and sultanate.
Muscat is the capital and most populated city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the total population of Muscat Governorate was 1.72 million as of September 2022. The metropolitan area spans approximately 3,500 km2 (1,400 sq mi) and includes six provinces called wilayats, making it the largest city in the Arabian Peninsula by area. Known since the early 1st century AD as an important trading port between the west and the east, Muscat was ruled by various indigenous tribes as well as foreign powers such as the Persians, the Portuguese Empire and the Ottoman Empire at various points in its history. A regional military power in the 18th century, Muscat's influence extended as far as East Africa and Zanzibar. As an important port-town in the Gulf of Oman, Muscat attracted foreign traders and settlers such as the Persians, Balochs and Sindhis. Since the accession of Qaboos bin Said as Sultan of Oman in 1970, Muscat has experienced rapid infrastructural development that has led to the growth of a vibrant economy and a multi-ethnic society. Muscat is termed as a Beta - Global City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.
The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, also known by its Latin name as the Periplus Maris Erythraei, is a Greco-Roman periplus written in Koine Greek that describes navigation and trading opportunities from Roman Egyptian ports like Berenice Troglodytica along the coast of the Red Sea and others along the Horn of Africa, the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, including the modern-day Sindh region of Pakistan and southwestern regions of India.
The sooty falcon is a medium-sized falcon breeding from northeastern Africa to the southern Persian Gulf region. The word sooty means to be covered in soot (ash), and is used to describe the color of the Sooty Falcon. Hence, the falcon gets its name from its color, the color of soot.
Raʾs al-Ḥadd is a village in Ash Sharqiyah district in Oman. It is on a point at the entrance to the Gulf of Oman.
Masirah Island, also referred to as Mazeira Island or Wilāyat Maṣīrah, is an island off the east coast of mainland Oman in the Arabian Sea, and the largest island of the country.
Duqm is a port town on the coastal strip of the Arabian Sea open to the Indian Ocean. It is about 550 km from Muscat. As of 2017, the population was approximately 12,000.
Sur is the capital city of Ash Sharqiyah South Governorate, and the former capital of Ash Sharqiyah Region in northeastern Oman, on the coast of the Gulf of Oman. It is located about 126 miles (203 km) southeast of the Omani capital Muscat. Historically, the city has been known for being an important destination point for sailors. Today, the sea still remains an important part of life in Sur.
Cape St. George Island is an uninhabited barrier island situated on Florida's North Gulf Coast, south-southeast of St. Vincent Island, west of St. George Island and 8–10 miles south-southwest of the town of Apalachicola in Franklin County, Florida. It was formerly part of St. George Island, but was separated from the main island in 1954, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed the ship channel known as Bob Sikes Cut.
The Erythraean Sea was a former maritime designation that always included the Gulf of Aden, and at times other seas between Arabia Felix and the Horn of Africa. Originally an ancient Greek geographical designation, the term was used throughout Europe until the 18th and 19th centuries. The area referred to by this name frequently extended beyond the Gulf of Aden—as in the famous 1st-century Periplus of the Erythraean Sea—to designate all of the present-day Red Sea, Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Indian Ocean as a single maritime area.
The sooty gull is a species of gull in the family Laridae, also known as the Aden gull or Hemprich's gull. It is found in Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, India, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Maldives, Mozambique, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. As is the case with many gulls, it has traditionally been placed in the genus Larus. The sooty gull is named in honour of the German naturalist Wilhelm Hemprich who died in 1825 while on a scientific expedition to Egypt and the Middle East with his friend Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg.
Bu Tinah is a tiny archipelago amid extensive coral formations and seagrass beds some 25 km south of Zirku and 35 north of Marawah in the United Arab Emirates. Found in the waters of Abu Dhabi, it is protected as a private nature reserve. Bu Tinah Island, rich in biodiversity, lies within the Marawah Marine Biosphere Reserve with a territory of more than 4,000 km2. The biosphere reserve is the region's first and largest UNESCO-designated marine biosphere reserve. It has been a recognized UNESCO site since 2001. Closed to visitors, fishing and the collection of turtle eggs are prohibited on Bu Tinah Island; the ban being enforced by patrols. An Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi Ranger Station is located on the island.
The Gulf of Oman desert and semi-desert is a coastal ecoregion on the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman in Oman and the United Arab Emirates at the northeastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. The climate is hot and dry, with gravelly plains and savanna with thorny acacia trees inland from the coast. Along the coast there are mixture of habitats that include mangrove swamps, lagoons and mudflats. The mangrove areas are dominated by Avicennia marina and the savanna by Prosopis cineraria and Vachellia tortilis. Masirah Island is an important breeding area for the loggerhead sea turtle and other sea turtles also occur here, as well as a great variety of birds, some resident and some migratory. There are some protected areas, but in general the habitats have been degraded by the grazing of livestock, especially camels and goats; they are also at risk from oil spills, off-road driving and poaching.
The wildlife of theUnited Arab Emirates is the flora and fauna of the country on the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula and the southern end of the Persian Gulf. The country offers a variety of habitats for wildlife including the coast, offshore islands, mangrove areas, mudflats, salt pans, sand and gravel plains, sand dunes, mountain slopes, wadis and rocky summits. Because the terrain is so varied, it supports a greater number of species of plants and animals than might be expected in a small country.
The wildlife of Oman is the flora and fauna of this country in the southeastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, with coasts on the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. The climate is hot and dry, apart from the southeastern coast, and the country offers a variety of habitats for wildlife including mountains, valleys, deserts, coastal plains and sea coasts.
Qurm Nature Reserve is a national nature reserve in Muscat Governorate, Oman. Located on the Gulf of Oman coast, the reserve protects a mangrove forest and the surrounding wetland in a small estuary within the urban area of Qurm. Established in 1975, the reserve has been designated as an Important Bird Area since 1994, and as a protected Ramsar site since 2013.
First published online: 2015 (online scan, online text)