Failaka Island
Failaka (Arabic فيلكا, Failaka DMG ) is an island in the Persian Gulf, which now belongs to Kuwait and about 20 km to the west in the sea off Kuwait City.
The island was inhabited in the fourth millennium BC. In Al - Khidr buildings and artifacts of Dilmunkultur were found. In the following years she seems to have remained uninhabited until it was built around 300 BC by the Seleucids as a naval base. From the Greeks, the island was named Ikaros. From this time, the ruins of two Greek temples on the island come. The island was then inhabited until the seventh or eighth century AD. The latest archaeological excavations on the island are by the Kuwaiti - Slovak Archaeological Mission ( KSAM ) conducted ( 2004, 2006, 2007).
History considerably the island was next to Dilmun than fresh water supplier for Kuwait City, as there are appropriate resources there.
The beginning of modern settlement is unknown. During the Second Gulf War, the residents had to leave the island by order of the Iraqis, and various facilities on the island have been destroyed. Today the island is again sparsely populated and is used primarily as a destination.