Perim

Perim (Arabic بريم Barım ) is a volcanic island with no fresh water sources in the Bab al - Mandab road at the southern entrance to the Red Sea off the southwest coast of Yemen. The island is 13 km ² in size and up to 65 m high. The volcano has several times the Bab al- Mandab blocked in the geological history, and thus cut off the Red Sea from the Indian Ocean. The island is in the west of a project from the foreshore Peninsula Yemen continues a natural bottleneck towards the 20.3 km distant Africa, thus shortening the distance between the Arab. Peninsula and Africa ( Ras Siyan ). Just south, about 20 km away, ( the seven brothers dt approximately ), the Sawabi Islands off the coast of Djibouti. This stretch of sea called el- DACT Mayun and reaches a depth of up to 310 m.

The island has a natural harbor on its southwestern side and a strategically important location, but the lack of fresh water has always been an obstacle to permanent settlement. To the north is an airfield (air identifier VOR). The vegetation on the island is sparse.

The island was visited by the Portuguese in 1513, but were driven from their Ottoman opponents very soon from the region. France occupied the island 1738. 1799 took the British East India Company in the short term of their property in order to support the planned invasion of Egypt. In 1857 it was finally annexed by England and incorporated the colony Aden, and a lighthouse was built on it. From 1869 until 1936, the island served as a coaling station for ships that used the Suez Canal. After this time, the population fell to the island. During the First World War in 1916, Turkish troops tried unsuccessfully to conquer the island. On November 30, 1967, the British rule ended on the island with the independence of the People's Republic of Yemen. The island is now part of Yemen's Hadramaut province, but is relatively far from the main part of this province.

Plans are currently near or directly over the island to build a 28 km long bridge that connects Africa / Djibouti with Asia / Yemen.