Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) is one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The city of Ras Al Khaimah, abbreviated to RAK or RAK City, is the capital of the emirate and home to most of the emirate's residents. It is linked to the Islamic trading port of Julfar. Its name in English means "headland of the tent". The emirate borders Oman's exclave of Musandam, and occupies part of the same peninsula. It covers an area of 2,486 km2 (960 sq mi) and has 64 km (40 mi) of beach coastline. As of 2015, the emirate had a population of about 345,000.
Masafi is a village located on the edge of the Hajar Mountains in the United Arab Emirates. It sits at the inland entrance of the Wadi Ham, which runs down to Fujairah City. The border between the emirates of Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah runs through the town, which houses a barracks used by the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces.
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 stone age – a record of over 5,000 years of occupation.
Adhen is the name of a town in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. It was formerly the location of the Desert Regiment and Mortar Troop of the Trucial Oman Scouts. Traditionally, Adhen was home to members of the Mazari tribe. In an area normally noted for its high levels of rainfall and fertility in the Winter and Spring, Adhen enjoyed record levels of rainfall in 2020 – according to local residents, the heaviest in 30 years.
Ghayl is a town in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. Situated in the foothills of the Hajar Mountains. It lies at the mouth of the Wadi Fara and was traditionally home to members of the Mazari tribe.
Wadi Fara is a seasonal watercourse, or wadi, in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. It runs from the village of Ghayl to the confluence of the Wadi Asimah and Wadi Sidr.
The Naqbiyin 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.
Meharia is a genus of moths belonging to the family Cossidae.
Wadi Ham is a wadi, a seasonal watercourse, in the Hajar Mountains of Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates.
Wadi Qor is a seasonal watercourse in the Hajar Mountains of Ras Al Khaimah, in the United Arab Emirates. The wadi runs from the mountain village of Al Qor, near the Dubai exclave of Hatta, through the villages of Huwaylat, Rafaq and Al Nasla before crossing the Omani border and fanning out to the Batinah plain and the Gulf of Oman north of the Omani coastal village of Bu Baqarah.
Wadi Shawka is a seasonal watercourse in the Hajar Mountains of Ras Al Khaimah, in the United Arab Emirates. Famous locally for the Shawka Dam, a renowned beauty spot and destination for outdoor sports, the wadi has long been an agricultural area and alongside existing farms, and many abandoned settlements exist on the sides of the wadi. The wadi enjoys unusually high rainfall of some 120mm per annum.
Wadi Asimah is a seasonal watercourse in the Hajar Mountains of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates. It runs broadly westward from the village of Asimah to join the Wadi Fara, its confluence forming the locus between Wadi Fara and Wadi Sidr.
Wadi Ejili is a wadi, or seasonal watercourse, in the Hajar Mountains of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. It runs down from the confluence of the Wadi Shawka and Wadi Esfai to run into the Wadi Helo at the village of Fayyad, on the Sharjah-Kalba Highway (E102).
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.
Tayyibah is a large village in the Hajar Mountains of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. It is notable for its hiking trails, its Heritage Museum and the Al Qalaa Lodge, an Emirati heritage themed guest house.
Wadi Tayyibah is a seasonal watercourse, or wadi, in the Hajar Mountains of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. It runs from the village of Tayyibah to join the Seih Dibba or Dibba Plain, where it fans out into the plain. Prior to 1960, Wadi Tayyibah provided the main route from Masafi to Dibba and sections of tarmac are still visible, particularly on the lower reaches of the wadi as it approaches the village of Al Hala.
Wadi Sidr is a seasonal watercourse, or wadi, in the Hajar Mountains of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. It runs from the confluence of the Wadi Asimah with the Wadi Fara in a north-easterly direction to the village of Wadi Sidr, where it is dammed by the Wadi Sidr Dam, constructed in 2001.
Wadi Naqab is a seasonal watercourse, or wadi, in the Hajar Mountains of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates.
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.
Wadi Sal is a seasonal watercourse, or wadi, in the Hajar Mountains of Ras Al Khaimah, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The road to the village of Esfai – washed away by the seasonal flooding of the Wadi Esfai.
Wild donkeys roaming the Wadi Esfai
The confluence of the Wadi Esfai with the Wadi Shawka
