Wadi Bih, alternatively Wādī Al-Bayḥ (Arabic : وَادِي ٱلْبَيْح), is a river/wadi that crosses the North-Western Hajar Mountains from the United Arab Emirates, and traversing Oman before returning to the UAE. From the West to the East, it originates in Ras Al Khaimah on the Gulf, before crossing the Omani exclave at the tip of the Musandam Peninsula, past the village of Zighi and into Fujairah at Dibba Al-Hisn, on the Gulf of Oman. [1] The wadi is a popular location for birdwatchers. [2]
The popular Wadi Bih 72 km (45 mi) ultramarathon takes place each year on the Musandam Peninsula in Oman on the first weekend of February. [4] The 72-km solo event is an out and back course, starting at Dibba and climbing 36km into mountainous terrain before the turnaround, taking some five hours to complete. [5] It was founded in 1993. [6]
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.
The United Arab Emirates is situated in the Middle East and West Asia, bordering the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, between Oman and Saudi Arabia; it is at a strategic location along the northern approaches to the Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit point for world crude oil. The UAE lies between 22°50′ and 26° north latitude and between 51° and 56°25′ east longitude. It shares a 19 km (12 mi) border with Qatar on the northwest, a 530 km (330 mi) border with Saudi Arabia on the west, south, and southeast, and a 450 km (280 mi) border with Oman on the southeast and northeast.
The Omani territory of Madha or Wādī Madḥāʾ is an exclave of the Musandam Governorate, enclaved by the United Arab Emirates (UAE); inside it, there is a second-order enclave: Nahwa, which is part of the UAE Emirate of Sharjah. Madha is located halfway between the Musandam Peninsula and the rest of Oman.
The Musandam Governorate is a governorate of Oman. With the exception of the exclave of Madha, it is located on the Musandam Peninsula, which juts into the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow entry into the Persian Gulf, from the Arabian Peninsula. The governorate is also an exclave, separated from the rest of Oman by the United Arab Emirates. Its location gives Oman partial control, shared with Iran, of the strategic strait. In the northern section of Musandam, around Kumzar, the language is Kumzari, which is a southwestern Iranian language closely related to Larestani and Luri. The Musandam Peninsula has an area of 1,800 km2 (690 sq mi) and, at the 2020 census, a population of 49,062.
The Musandam Peninsula, locally known as Ruus Al Jibal, is a peninsula that forms the northeastern point of the Arabian Peninsula.
Jabal Al-Mebraḥ, also known by the name Jabal Yibir, is a 1,527 m (5,010 ft) tall mountain in the Emirate of Fujairah, the U.A.E.
The Shihuh is an Arab tribe living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman. In the singular, the name is Al Shehhi, a common family name in the UAE and Oman today. Inhabiting the northern part of the Hajar Mountain range, specifically in the Ruus Al Jibal, the tribe has long been influential in the affairs of both the east and west coast settlements of the northern UAE and Oman and has fiercely maintained both its identity and independence.
Dibbā Al-Bayʿah is geographically part of the Dibba region that faces the Arabian Sea, and is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the south. It is a Wilayat in the Muhafazah of Musandam, Sultanate of Oman, on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula.It is considered one of the most famous Omani cities known in the pre-Islamic days because it contains Dibba market, which is one of the most famous Arab markets that was known at that time, as merchants from different countries around the world such as India, Sindh and China used to come to it, and some historians, such as Al-Asmai, attribute this name to the locusts Creeping to express the large number of people in it, and the area of that city is approximately 37 km2.
Jebel Jais is a mountain of the North-Western Hajar range in the Musandam Governorate of Oman and also in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. The summit has an elevation of 1,934 m (6,345 ft). The summit is located on the Omani side, but a high point west of this peak is considered the highest point in the United Arab Emirates, at 1,892 m (6,207 ft) above sea level, and with around 10m of prominence. Since the summit is on the Omani side, Jabal ar Raḩraḩ, at 1,892 m (6,207 ft), is the highest peak in the UAE, with significant prominence.
The Hajar Mountains are one of the highest mountain ranges in the Arabian Peninsula, shared between northern Oman and eastern United Arab Emirates. Also known as "Oman Mountains", they separate the low coastal plain of Oman from the high desert plateau, and lie 50–100 km (31–62 mi) inland from the Gulf of Oman.
Wadi Ham is a wadi, a seasonal watercourse, in the Hajar Mountains of Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates.
Wadi Tuwa is a wadi, a seasonal waterway, in the Hajar Mountains of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. The wadi is dammed by the Wadi Tuwa Dam.
The Habus are a tribe of Ras Al Khaimah, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). They mostly settled the area around Khatt, Fahlain and the Hajar Mountain wadis to the East of the city of Ras Al Khaimah. They are often associated with the Hajar Mountain tribes of the Shihuh and Dhahuriyiin, with whom the Habus were frequently neighbours and with whom the Habus shared a number of cultural similarities and traditions. The Habus have also adopted the distinctive Shehhi dialect of Arabic, which is thought to have Himyarite Yemeni origins dating back to the second century BCE.
Jabal Rahabah, is a peak in the Hajar Mountains, northeast of the United Arab Emirates, in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah. At 1,543 m (5,062 ft), it is one of the highest peaks in the UAE, located entirely within the territory of the Emirates
The Wadi Jib is a valley or dry river with intermittent flow, which flows almost exclusively during the rainy season, belonging to the drainage basin of Wadi Bih, north-east of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah.
Jabal Al Harim or Jebel Al Harim is a peak located in the Hajar Mountains range, north of the Sultanate of Oman, in the Musandam Governorate.
The Wadi Khabb Shamsi, is a valley or dry river, with ephemeral or intermittent flow, flowing almost exclusively during the rainy season, located west of the Musandam Governorate, in the Sultanate of Oman.
Jebel Qihwi or Jabal Qa'wah, along with the Jabal Al Harim and Jabal Bil Ays / Jebel Jais, are the three highest and most representative mountains of the Musandam Governorate, in Oman.