Geography of the United Arab Emirates

The geography of the United Arab Emirates is the description of the physical characteristics of the territory of the United Arab Emirates ( UAE), as well as caused by this interaction between this habitat and its inhabitants.

Physical Geography

Topography

The UAE is almost entirely of dry sand desert covered; about two-thirds of the country is occupied by the northern foothills of the Great Arabian Desert ( Rub al Khali ). Your sand dunes can often migrate hundreds of kilometers and oases and cities threaten. Large-scale plantings could stop the advance of the desert only partially. The most important desert oases are Al-Ain/Buraimi the border with Oman and the Liwa oasis in the south. Between the sandy desert and north coast there is a 15 km wide salt marsh plain with salt pans and brackish groundwater. The north coast are offshore islands many; another 100 km off the coast, the sea is only 25 meters deep. The islands, sandbanks, shoals and coral reefs to impede navigation today. In the northeast, on the headland between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, rises steeply to the northern section of Hajar Mountains: Schroff from the desert ascending it reached in the UAE two of its highest elevations in Jebel Adhan ( 1,127 m) and in Jabal Yibir ( 1,527 m). Here large amounts of groundwater and surface water can be obtained. Riverbeds, called wadis cross the country.

The coast and the islands in the Persian Gulf

To the west is the several hundred square kilometers Sabkha Matti. It is an area with a width of 60 km and a depth of 150 km, so thus sufficient to Saudi Arabia into it. The Sabkha Matti is the remnant of a former river, which arose in the interior of the Arabian peninsula. To the east lie the Jabal az- Zanna Peninsula and the industrial town Ruwais. In the middle of the north coast, a variety of coastal barrier islands and peninsulas, and at the height of Abu Dhabi will find a vast network of lagoons and artificial channels. To the north are the cities of Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al - Qaiwain the city along a bay where overgrown by mangrove islands are to be found, and Ra's al -Khaimah, just 20 km from the border with Oman away. From the coast far away, lying in the Persian Gulf islands such as The, circularity or occupied by Iran Islands Abu Musa and the Tunb Islands. Since the Persian Gulf is about only a maximum of 100 m deep, some of these islands are soaring out of the sea salt domes.

The interior

In the interior there is the Rub al Khali desert with the Liwa oasis in the south and the oasis city of Al- Ain in the east on the border with Oman. Most of the inland is flat desert, but there are dunes south of the Liwa Oasis, with altitudes above 100 m and also in the southeast of the country. The Lake Al- Wathba (24 ° 15 ' 25 "N, 54 ° 35' 50 " O24.25694444444454.597222222222 ) is located 30 km southeast from the center of Abu Dhabi. He is a Sabkha, so originally mostly in winter, a lake. Only since 1998, was passed as treated municipal sewage there, open water is available all year round, so there even breeding flamingos. Another important bird breeding area is the Al Warsan Lake (25 ° 9 ' 28 " N, 55 ° 24' 57 " O25.15777777777855.415833333333 ), 20 km south-east from the center of Dubai in the vicinity of the Dubai International City, which was founded in 1990 and also is powered by recycled municipal waste water. Just a few kilometers south of Al- Ain is the up to 1134 m high Jabal Hafit, running in the north-south direction, about 26 km long mountain ridge.

The Al Hajar Mountains and the coast of the Gulf of Oman

In the Al Hajar Mountains, the highest elevations in the UAE can be found: the Jabal Yibir ( 1,527 m) and the Jabal Adhan ( 1,127 m). There are a number of wadis, where sometimes water flows. For example, the Wadi Bih (25 ° 49 ' 40 "N, 58 ° 8' 0 " O25.82777777777858.133333333333 ), where since 1993 the Wadi Bih Run takes place a long-distance race. This Wadi is a traditional communication path through the mountains and performs the Omani Musandam on the Wadi Khabb Shamsi up to Dibba, on the Gulf of Oman. The coast of the Gulf of Oman is fertile and densely populated. The main cities are Dibba Fujairah. In Khor Fakkan there is a deep water port with a container terminal.

Climate

The climate is subtropical to tropical, with very low annual rainfall, which usually falls in winter; often evaporate the wet before reaching the ground. From May to October it is extremely humid. Especially in winter and early summer blows the Schamal ( " The Northern "), a north-west wind, which brings a lot of sand and dust with it. It happens that sandstorms from Iraq to blow up in the UAE. In late summer, a moist southeast wind, Sharqi ( " The East " ) provides called, especially in the coastal region for unpleasant climate. In Germany, there is a dry desert climate. In the Al Hajar Mountains, it is noticeably cooler due to the altitude. The Jebel Jais, a mountain floor near Ra's al -Khaimah, it snowed twice since records began.

The average temperatures and precipitation in Abu Dhabi are:

Flora and Fauna

In the oases of date palms, acacia and eucalyptus trees grow; the desert has very sparse vegetation with hard grasses and thorn bushes. The domestic animals were nearly eradicated by intensive hunting. In the coastal waters there are mainly of mackerel, perch and tuna, rare sharks and whales; the rich fish stocks are declining rapidly due to pollution. On the island of Sir Bani Yas was in the 1970 by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan created a nature reserve for native plants and animals, which, inter alia, the survival of the Arabian Oryx and the leopard secured. In recent years it has begun to release back into the wild in the south of the UAE herds of oryx.

Political Geography

The UAE lies on the Eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia between 22 ° 50 'and 26 ° 00' " N latitude and 51 ° 00 ' and 56 ° 25' east longitude. The south and west of the country borders over a length of 457 km of Saudi Arabia, the East more than 410 km of Oman and the territorial waters to the west by Qatar. In the north of the country nestled on the Südbogen of the Persian Gulf and on the east by the Gulf of Oman, where it separates the territory of Oman in two parts. There is also the area around Nahwa an enclave of second order. The coastline on the Persian Gulf can not be accurately determined, as it is constantly changing by shifting sand and silt masses. For this reason, the land area is only vaguely indicated. It amounts to 77.7 thousand km ² or 83.6 thousand km ² when doing unilaterally taken over by Iran in 1992 Tunb Islands and the island of Abu Musa, together with the sea area surrounded them in the calculation. In August 1974, with Saudi Arabia " Riyadh Agreement", agreed that the UAE leave the land link to Qatar and the proportionate maritime area at Khor al - Udaid and for Saudi Arabia, the territorial claims of the oasis of Buraimi / Al Ain gives up.

The UAE consists of the emirates of Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Qaiwain. The largest emirate, Abu Dhabi, with 67,340 km ² takes a about 87 % of the total area of the country, while the smallest emirate, Ajman, with 259 km ² makes up only 0.33% of the UAE. Prior to their departure in 1971, the British protectorate authorities laid down the boundaries between the individual emirates to prevent territorial disputes that would impede the formation of the UAE. This was recognized by the rulers of respective Emirates for the most part. A few conflicts were settled only after the founding of the UAE. The most complicated borders are in the Al Hajar Mountains, where five Emirates and Oman were fighting over more than a dozen enclaves, of which some made (eg Kalba ) meanwhile independent Emirates. Two of these enclaves, Hadf and ... (?) Are managed jointly by Ajman and Sharjah and Fujairah, Oman and today. Between the Emirates is an exclave of Oman ( Madha ), within the same turn, an enclave Schardschas Nahwa is.