Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi is the capital and the second most populous city of the United Arab Emirates, capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the largest of the UAE's seven emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western coast; the city of Abu Dhabi has an estimated population of 1.8 million in 2016. Abu Dhabi houses federal government offices, is the seat of the United Arab Emirates Government, home to the Abu Dhabi Emiri Family and the President of the UAE, from this family. Abu Dhabi's rapid development and urbanisation, coupled with the high average income of its population, has transformed the city into a large and advanced metropolis. Today the city is the country's centre of political and industrial activities, a major cultural and commercial centre, due to its position as the capital. Abu Dhabi accounts for about two-thirds of the $400-billion United Arab Emirates economy; the area surrounding Abu Dhabi is full of archaeological evidence that points to civilisations, such as the Umm an-Nar Culture, having been located there from the third millennium BCE.
Settlements were found farther outside the modern city of Abu Dhabi, including in the eastern and western regions of the Emirate. "Dhabi" is the Arabic word for Gazelle, so Abu Dhabi means "Father of Gazelle". It is thought that this name came about because of the abundance of Gazelles in the area and a folk tale involving Shakhbut bin Dhiyab al Nahyan; the Bani Yas bedouin were centred on the Liwa Oasis in the Western region of the Emirate. This tribe was the most significant in the area, having over 20 subsections. In 1793, Al Bu Falah subsection migrated to the island of Abu Dhabi on the coast of the Persian Gulf due to the discovery of fresh water there. One family within this section was the Nahyan family; this family makes up the rulers of Abu Dhabi today. Abu Dhabi traded with others. According to a source about pearling, the Persian Gulf was the best location for pearls. Pearl divers dove for one to one-and-a-half minutes, would have dived up to thirty times per day. There were no air tanks and any other sort of mechanical device was forbidden.
The divers had a leather nose clip and leather coverings on their fingers and big toes to protect them while they searched for oysters. The divers received a portion of the season's earnings. In the 19th century, as a result of treaties entered into between Great Britain and the sheikhs of the Arab States of the Persian Gulf, Britain became the predominant influence in the area; the main purpose of British interest was to protect the trade route to India from pirates, hence the earlier name for the area, the "Pirate Coast". After piracy was suppressed, other considerations came into play, such as a strategic need of the British to exclude other powers from the region. Following their withdrawal from India in 1947, the British maintained their influence in Abu Dhabi as interest in the oil potential of the Persian Gulf grew. In the 1930s, as the pearl trade declined, interest grew in the oil possibilities of the region. On 5 January 1936, Petroleum Development Ltd, an associate company of the Iraq Petroleum Company, entered into a concession agreement with the ruler, Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan Al Nahyan, to explore for oil.
This was followed by a seventy-five-year concession signed in January 1939. However, owing to the desert terrain, inland exploration was fraught with difficulties. In 1953, D'Arcy Exploration Company, the exploration arm of BP, obtained an offshore concession, transferred to a company created to operate the concession: Abu Dhabi Marine Areas was a joint venture between BP and Compagnie Française des Pétroles. In 1958, using a marine drilling platform, the ADMA Enterprise, oil was struck in the Umm Shaif field at a depth of about 2,669 metres; this was followed in 1959 by PDTC's onshore discovery well at Murban No.3. In 1962, the company discovered the Bu Hasa field and ADMA followed in 1965 with the discovery of the Zakum offshore field. Today, in addition to the oil fields mentioned, the main producing fields onshore are Asab and Shah, offshore are al-Bunduq, Abu al-Bukhoosh. In 1904, German explorer, Hermann Burchardt, took many photographs of historical sites in Abu Dhabi, photos that are now held at the Ethnological Museum of Berlin.
The city of Abu Dhabi is on the southeastern side of the Arabian Peninsula, adjoining the Persian Gulf. It is on an island less than 250 metres from the mainland and is joined to the mainland by the Maqta and Mussafah Bridges. A third, Sheikh Zayed Bridge, designed by Zaha Hadid, opened in late 2010. Abu Dhabi Island is connected to Saadiyat Island by a five-lane motorway bridge. Al-Mafraq bridge connects the city to Reem Island and was completed in early 2011; this is a multilayer interchange bridge and it has 27 lanes which allow 25,000 automobiles to move per hour. There are three major bridges of the project, the largest has eight lanes, four leaving Abu Dhabi city and four coming in. Most of Abu Dhabi city is located on the island itself, but it has many suburban districts on the mainland, for example: Khalifa City A, B, C. Gulf waters of Abu Dhabi holds the world's largest population of Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphins. To the east of the island are mangroves, located on Al Qurm Corniche.
Al-Qurm is Arabic for "The Mangrove". Abu Dhabi has a
Emirate of Ajman
The Emirate of Ajman is one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates. It has an area of a mere 260 square kilometres, which makes it the smallest of the emirates in terms of area, it is named after the city of Ajman, its seat of government. The main landmass of the emirate is bordered on the north and south by the Emirate of Sharjah, it has a population of some 240,000. Located on the coast of the Persian Gulf, Ajman controls two small inland exclaves: Manama and Masfout, both of which are agricultural. 95% of the population of the emirate resides in the city of Ajman, which forms part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Ajman is ruled by Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi III of the Na'im tribe; the Crown Prince of the Emirate is Sheikh Ammar bin Humaid Al Nuaimi. Ajman is the smallest of the United Arab Emirates; the city is home to some 95 % of the emirate's population. In 2010, the population was 262,000; as well as the city of Ajman, the emirate encompasses two landlocked exclaves and Masfout.
Manama is in the plains at the foothills of the Hajjar Mountains some 60 km east of Ajman city, while Masfout is in the mountains proper, some 110 km south of Ajman City. The city and main territory of Ajman is bordered to the landward side by Sharjah, while Manama shares borders with Sharjah and Fujairah. Masfout borders Oman and Ras Al Khaimah. Both Manama and Masfout are fertile support widespread agricultural development. Most of the main emirate's landmass is developed, with extensive suburbs stretching out to the E311 arterial road, with light industrial zones and warehousing towards the north east. Ajman's creek has been dredged and walled to form a port area and this is the location for the Ajman Port and the Ajman Free Zone. Ajman has a thriving textile industry, is home to some 15% of the UAE's manufacturing firms; the small areas of sandy desert outside the city support scant seasonal growths of wild grasses and scrub, ghaf trees and occasional date palms. Acacia and ghaf trees are to be found in abundance in Manama, which has long been established as an agricultural centre.
Date palm groves and fruit tree plantations are characteristic of Masfout. The Emirate of Ajman is a monarchy, ruled by Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi III since succeeding his father in 1981; the Crown Prince of Ajman is Sheikh Ammar bin Humaid Al Nuaimi. The emirate has been ruled by members of the Al Nuaimi family since 1810, it contributes four senators, or seats, to the 40-seat Federal National Council of the United Arab Emirates. Ajman's municipality and planning department was founded in 1968 and is responsible for integrated city planning, trade licensing, building licensing and planning and the development of roads and civic infrastructure, health care, agricultural policy and public parks. Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi is the Chairman of Ajman Municipality and Planning Department since 2005. Ajman has a Department of Economic Development, which aims to encourage FDI and drive the emirate's economic opportunities. Ajman's real estate market is regulated by the Ajman Real Estate Regulatory Authority, established in December 2008 to bring regulation to bear on Ajman's fast growing and uncontrolled property boom.
Its rulers were:1816–1838 Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi 1838–1841 Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi 1841–1848 Sheikh Abdelaziz bin Rashid Al Nuaimi 1848–1864 Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi 1864 – April 1891 Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi II April 1891 – 8 July 1900 Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi II 8 July 1900 – February 1910 Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Humaid Al Nuaimi February 1910 – January 1928 Sheikh Humaid bin Abdulaziz Al NuaimiJanuary 1928 – 6 September 1981 Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi III 6 September 1981–present Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi III Ajman Police was founded in 1967 and housed in Ajman Fort, vacated by the Ruler, Sheikh Rashid Bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, in that year. Ajman's legal system is governed by the Federal courts. Ajman's GDP was $4.23 billion in 2012, in which it had a positive trade balance with exports of $1.61 billion and imports of $600 million. Ajman's economy is dominated by manufacturing. In 2012 these contributed some 82% of total GDP, with manufacturing and construction the two largest contributors.
The three largest growth sectors in Ajman from 2010-2012 were social and personal services, which grew 6.4%, transport and communication, which grew 5.1% and manufacturing, which grew 5%. Some 78% of overall investment in Ajman in 2012 was concentrated in the real estate and government services and manufacturing. Ajman is home to many famous businesses and manufacturing concerns such as Amtek Industries, Al Haramain Perfumes and the Gulf Medical University; the fastest growing trades in the manufacturing sector 2009-2011 were carpentry and paper products and publishing. Overall, the manufacturing sector in Ajman grew 16.3% over this period. The re-exporting of chemicals and plastic products clocked over 100% growth in this same time period. Major export markets from 2009-11 were represented by the GCC countries and Asia, while Africa and Asia were the fastest growing export markets over this period. Saudi Arabi
Beach
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are made from rock, such as sand, shingle, pebbles; the particles can be biological in origin, such as mollusc shells or coralline algae. Some beaches have man-made infrastructure, such as lifeguard posts, changing rooms, showers and bars, they may have hospitality venues nearby. Wild beaches known as undeveloped or undiscovered beaches, are not developed in this manner. Wild beaches can be preserved nature. Beaches occur in areas along the coast where wave or current action deposits and reworks sediments. Although the seashore is most associated with the word beach, beaches are found by lakes and alongside large rivers. Beach may refer to: small systems where rock material moves onshore, offshore, or alongshore by the forces of waves and currents; the former are described in detail below. There are several conspicuous parts to a beach that relate to the processes that shape it; the part above water, more or less influenced by the waves at some point in the tide, is termed the beach berm.
The berm is the deposit of material comprising the active shoreline. The berm has a crest and a face—the latter being the slope leading down towards the water from the crest. At the bottom of the face, there may be a trough, further seaward one or more long shore bars: raised, underwater embankments formed where the waves first start to break; the sand deposit may extend well inland from the berm crest, where there may be evidence of one or more older crests resulting from large storm waves and beyond the influence of the normal waves. At some point the influence of the waves on the material comprising the beach stops, if the particles are small enough, winds shape the feature. Where wind is the force distributing the grains inland, the deposit behind the beach becomes a dune; these geomorphic features compose. The beach profile changes seasonally due to the change in wave energy experienced during summer and winter months. In temperate areas where summer is characterised by calmer seas and longer periods between breaking wave crests, the beach profile is higher in summer.
The gentle wave action during this season tends to transport sediment up the beach towards the berm where it is deposited and remains while the water recedes. Onshore winds carry it further inland enhancing dunes. Conversely, the beach profile is lower in the storm season due to the increased wave energy, the shorter periods between breaking wave crests. Higher energy waves breaking in quick succession tend to mobilise sediment from the shallows, keeping it in suspension where it is prone to be carried along the beach by longshore currents, or carried out to sea to form longshore bars if the longshore current meets an outflow from a river or flooding stream; the removal of sediment from the beach berm and dune thus decreases the beach profile. In tropical areas, the storm season tends to be during the summer months, with calmer weather associated with the winter season. If storms coincide with unusually high tides, or with a freak wave event such as a tidal surge or tsunami which causes significant coastal flooding, substantial quantities of material may be eroded from the coastal plain or dunes behind the berm by receding water.
This flow may alter the shape of the coastline, enlarge the mouths of rivers and create new deltas at the mouths of streams that had not been powerful enough to overcome longshore movement of sediment. The line between beach and dune is difficult to define in the field. Over any significant period of time, sediment is always being exchanged between them; the drift line is one potential demarcation. This would be the point at which significant wind movement of sand could occur, since the normal waves do not wet the sand beyond this area. However, the drift line is to move inland under assault by storm waves; the development of the beach as a popular leisure resort from the mid-19th century was the first manifestation of what is now the global tourist industry. The first seaside resorts were opened in the 18th century for the aristocracy, who began to frequent the seaside as well as the fashionable spa towns, for recreation and health. One of the earliest such seaside resorts, was Scarborough in Yorkshire during the 1720s.
The first rolling bathing machines were introduced by 1735. The opening of the resort in Brighton and its reception of royal patronage from King George IV, extended the seaside as a resort for health and pleasure to the much larger London market, the beach became a centre for upper-class pleasure and frivolity; this trend was praised and artistically elevated by the new romantic ideal of the picturesque landscape. Queen Victoria's long-standing patronage of the Isle of Wight and Ramsgate in Kent ensured that a seaside residence was considered as a fashionable possession for those wealthy enough to afford more than one home; the extension of this form of leisure to the middle and working classes began with the development of the railways in the 1840s, which offered cheap fares to fast
Al Hajar Mountains
Al-Hajar Mountains in northeastern Oman and the eastern United Arab Emirates are the highest mountain range in the eastern Arabian peninsula. Known as "Oman Mountains", they separate the low coastal plain of Oman from the high desert plateau, lie 50–100 km inland from the Gulf of Oman. "Al" means "The", "Ḥajar" means "Stone" or "Rock". So "Al-Hajar" would be defined as "The Stone" or "The Rock". Geologically, Al-Hajar Mountains are the continuation of the Zagros Mountains, were formed in the Miocene and Pliocene as the Arabian Plate collided with and pushed against the Iranian Plate; these mountains are chiefly made of Cretaceous ophiolites. The mountains begin in the Musandam Peninsula in the north, extend about 440 km to Ras Al-Hadd in the east, measuring up to 50 km wide; this range is one of the few places on Earth where less dense oceanic crust is located below more dense oceanic crust and upper parts of the Earth's mantle, thus has ophiolite exposed, like the Andes, Swiss Alps and other ranges.
The low coastal land north and east of the Jebel Hajar is called "Al Batinah Region." The climate is cool and wet from December to March, warmer but rainy from April to September. The central section of the Hajar is the highest and wildest terrain in the country. Jabal Shams is the highest of the range, followed by Jebel Akhdar; the latter and the smaller Jebel Nakhl range are bounded on the east by the low Sama'il Valley. East of Samail are the Eastern Hajar, which run east to the fishing town of Sur at the easternmost point of Oman; the mountains to the west of Sama'il Valley those in Musandam Peninsula and the UAE, are known as the Western Hajar known as the "Oman proper". Since Jabal Akhdar and mountains in its vicinity are west of the valley, they may be regarded as Western Hajar. In the region of Tawam, which includes the adjacent settlements of Al-Buraimi and Al Ain on the border of Oman and the UAE Emirate of Abu Dhabi, lies Jebel Hafeet, which can be considered an outlier of the Hajar.
Due to its proximity to the main Hajar range, it may be treated as being part of the range, sensu lato. The northernmost mountains of the Hajar range are found on the Musandam Peninsula. For this reason, the phrase Ru'us al-Jibal is applied to them. Despite being physically part of the western Hajar, they differ in geology and hydrology to the rest of the range; the highest point in the UAE is located at Jebel Jais near Ras Al Khaimah, which measures 1,934 m from sea level, but since the summit is on the Omani side, Jabal Yibir, measuring over 1,500 m, has the highest peak in the UAE. The mountains bordering the Shamailiyyah coast on the Gulf of Oman, forming parts of the northern UAE Emirates of Sharjah, Ras Al-Khaimah and Fujairah, may be called the Shumayliyyah. In this region is Jebel Al-Ḥeben; the mountains are rich in plant life compared to most of Arabia, including a number of endemic species. The vegetation changes with altitude, the mountains are covered with shrubland at lower elevations, growing richer and becoming woodland, including wild olive and fig trees between 3,630 and 8,250 ft, higher still there are junipers.
Fruit trees such as pomegranate and apricot are grown in the cooler valleys and in places there are rocky outcrops with little vegetation. The flora shows similarities with mountain areas of nearby Iran, as well as with areas along the Red Sea in the Horn of Africa. For example, the tree Ceratonia oreothauma is found here and in Somalia. A number of birds are found in the mountains including lappet-faced vultures. Mammals include the Arabian tahr. Other endemic species include a number of geckos and lizards: Asaccus montanus, Asaccus platyrhynchus and a subspecies of Wadi Kharrar rock gecko are found only in Oman while Musandam leaf-toed gecko, Gallagher's leaf-toed gecko, Oman rock gecko, Jayakar lizard and Oman's lizard are found only in the Hajar mountains; the endangered Arabian leopard had been recorded here in the area of Khasab in northern part of the Musandam. Like the Ru'us al-Jibal, the area of Jebel Hafeet is noted for hosting rare fauna. For example, in February 2019, an Arabian caracal was sighted here, in March, a Blanford's fox, reported in the mountains of Ras Al-Khaimah.
The Hajar are extensively grazed by domestic goats and donkeys and the landscape has been cleared in parts for urban areas and for mining, which has damaged both vegetation and water supplies and uprooted traditional rural land management behaviours. Poaching of wildlife is another issue; the Oman government has created the Wadi Sareen Reserve and an area of Jebel Qahwan-Jebal Sebtah in the Eastern Hajar, for the protection of Arabian tahr and mountain gazelle. For visitors, there is a road into the mountains from the town of Birkat al-Mawz and a walking route through Wadi al-Muaydin to the Saiq Plateau. There are 11 marked trails/routes of
Enclave and exclave
An enclave is a territory, or a part of a territory, surrounded by the territory of one other state. Territorial waters have the same sovereign attributes as land, enclaves may therefore exist within territorial waters. An exclave is a portion of a state or territory geographically separated from the main part by surrounding alien territory. Many exclaves are enclaves. Enclave is sometimes used improperly to denote a territory, only surrounded by another state. Vatican City and San Marino, enclaved by Italy, Lesotho, enclaved by South Africa, are enclaved states. Unlike an enclave, an exclave can be surrounded by several states; the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan is an example of an exclave. Semi-enclaves and semi-exclaves are areas that, except for possessing an unsurrounded sea border, would otherwise be enclaves or exclaves. Enclaves and semi-enclaves can exist as independent states, while exclaves always constitute just a part of a sovereign state. A pene-enclave is a part of the territory of one country that can be conveniently approached—in particular, by wheeled traffic—only through the territory of another country.
Pene-enclaves are called functional enclaves or practical enclaves. Many pene-exclaves border their own territorial waters, such as Point Roberts, Washington. A pene-enclave can exist on land, such as when intervening mountains render a territory inaccessible from other parts of a country except through alien territory. A cited example is the Kleinwalsertal, a valley part of Vorarlberg, accessible only from Germany to the north; the word enclave is French and first appeared in the mid-15th century as a derivative of the verb enclaver, from the colloquial Latin inclavare. It was a term of property law that denoted the situation of a land or parcel of land surrounded by land owned by a different owner, that could not be reached for its exploitation in a practical and sufficient manner without crossing the surrounding land. In law, this created a servitude of passage for the benefit of the owner of the surrounded land; the first diplomatic document to contain the word enclave was the Treaty of Madrid, signed in 1526.
The term enclave began to be used to refer to parcels of countries, fiefs, towns, etc. that were surrounded by alien territory. This French word entered the English and other languages to denote the same concept, although local terms have continued to be used. In India, the word "pocket" is used as a synonym for enclave. In British administrative history, subnational enclaves were called detachments or detached parts, national enclaves as detached districts or detached dominions. In English ecclesiastic history, subnational enclaves were known as peculiars; the word exclave, modeled on enclave, is a logically extended back-formation of enclave. Enclaves exist for a variety of historical and geographical reasons. For example, in the feudal system in Europe, the ownership of feudal domains was transferred or partitioned, either through purchase and sale or through inheritance, such domains were or came to be surrounded by other domains. In particular, this state of affairs persisted into the 19th century in the Holy Roman Empire, these domains exhibited many of the characteristics of sovereign states.
Prior to 1866 Prussia alone consisted of more than 270 discontiguous pieces of territory. Residing in an enclave within another country has involved difficulties in such areas as passage rights, importing goods, provision of utilities and health services, host nation cooperation. Thus, over time, enclaves have tended to be eliminated. For example, two-thirds of the then-existing national-level enclaves were extinguished on August 1, 2015, when the governments of India and Bangladesh implemented a Land Boundary Agreement that exchanged 162 first-order enclaves; this exchange thus de-enclaved another two dozen second-order enclaves and one third-order enclave, eliminating 197 of the Indo-Bangladesh enclaves in all. The residents in these enclaves had complained of being stateless. Only Bangladesh's Dahagram–Angarpota enclave remained. For illustration, in the figure, A1 is a semi-enclave. Although A2 is an exclave of A, it cannot be classed as an enclave because it shares borders with B and C; the territory A3 is both an exclave of A and an enclave from the viewpoint of B.
The singular territory D, although an enclave, is not an exclave. An enclave is a part of the territory of a state, enclosed within the territory of another state. To distinguish the parts of a state enclosed in a single other state, they are called true enclaves. A true enclave cannot be reached without passing through the territory of a single other state that surrounds it. Vinokurov calls this the restrictive definition of "enclave" given by international law, which thus "comprises only so-called'true enclaves'". Two examples are Büsingen am Hochrhein, a true enclave of Germany, Campione d'Italia, a true enclave of Italy, both of which are surrounded by Switzerland; the definition of a territory comprises territorial waters. In the case of enclaves in territorial waters, they are called maritime (those surrounded by ter
Sharjah
Sharjah is the third largest and third most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. It is located along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula. Sharjah is the capital of the emirate of the same name. Sharjah shares legal, political and economic functions with the other emirates of the UAE within a federal framework, although each emirate has jurisdiction over some functions such as civil law enforcement and provision and upkeep of local facilities. Sharjah has been ruled by the Al Qasimi dynasty since the 18th century; the city is a centre for culture and industry, alone contributes 7.4% of the GDP of the United Arab Emirates. The city covers an approximate area of 235 km² and has a population of over 800,000; the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages is prohibited in the emirate of Sharjah without possession of an alcohol licence and alcohol is not served in Sharjah hotels, restaurants or other outlets due to the Muslim majority in the area.
This has helped Sharjah increase the number of Islamic tourists. Sharjah has been named as a WHO healthy city; the 2016 edition of QS Best Student Cities ranked Sharjah as the 68th best city in the world to be a university student. Sharjah is regarded as the cultural capital of the UAE, was the Islamic culture capital in 2014. Sharjah is the third largest city in the United Arab Emirates after Abu Dhabi; the palace of the ruler of the Emirate of Sharjah, His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, is located about 20 kilometres southeast of the city; the city of Sharjah overlooks the Persian Gulf and has a population of over 800,000. It contains the main administrative and commercial centres together with an array of cultural and traditional projects, including several museums covering areas such as archaeology, natural history, arts, Islamic art and culture. Distinctive landmarks include two major covered souks, reflecting Islamic design, a number of recreational areas and public parks such as Al Montazah Fun Park and Al Buheirah Corniche.
The city is notable for its numerous elegant mosques. The city of Sharjah is situated on the Persian Gulf coast of the United Arab Emirates; the emirate borders with Dubai to the south and Umm Al Quwain to the north and Ras Al Khaimah to the east. It is the only emirate that overlooks the coastline on the Persian Gulf to the west and the Gulf of Oman to the East, with the eastern Sharjah coastal towns of Kalba and Khor Fakkan. Sultan Al Omaimi, a UAE poet and researcher in folk literature, says that some historians speculate that Sharjah was the name of an idol worshipped in the ancient era, known as Abed Al Shareq. Other researchers link the word Sharjah to the fact that the city is located to the east, of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Sharjah was one of the wealthiest towns in this region with a settlement in existence for over 5000 years. In the early 18th century, the Qawasim clan established itself in Sharjah, c.1727 declaring Sharjah independent. On 8 January 1820, Sheikh Sultan I signed the General Maritime Treaty with Britain, accepting a protectorate to keep the Ottoman Turks out.
Like four of its neighbours, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain, its position on the route to India made it important enough to be recognised as a salute state. In 1829, English author and traveler James Silk Buckingham described Sharjah as such: "In the course of the night, we had passed the port of Sharjee, on the Arabian coast, not an island, as laid down in Niebuhr's chart, the only one in which it is inserted, it is situated in lat. 25° 34' north, lies eleven leagues south-west of a small island, close to the shore, called Jeziret-el-Hamra. By the turn of the 20th century, Sharjah extended inland to the area now known as Wasit Suburb, the area between the city and Dhaid being under the control of the tribes of the interior. With some 15,000 inhabitants, Sharjah had some 4 or 5 shops in Layyah and a bazaar of some 200 shops in Sharjah proper. At the height of World War II, Nazi propaganda infiltrated the town. Loud transmissions of pro-Hitler speeches could be heard emanating from the Sheikh of Sharjah's palace during a period in 1940, messages sharing a similar sentiment had been graffitied on walls in the town centre according to British intelligence reports at the time.
Because the message being propagated by the Germans was one of anti-Imperialism, it found a sympathetic audience among the emirate's populace Abdullah bin Faris, a secretary of the Sheikh, responsible for the broadcasts. After the Sheikh was confronted by the British, he wrote a letter reiterating his support for the British war efforts and disputed the charges laid out against bin Faris. Attached to the letter was a petition signed by 48 prominent individuals testifying to bin Faris' character, according to the British, had been misrepresented to the signees; the incident resolved after the Sheikh and bin Faris ceased from transmitting propaganda and doubled down on their support of the British. On 2 December 1971, together with Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Umm Al Qawain and Fujairah joined in the Act of Union to form the United Arab Emirates; the seventh emirate, Ras Al Khaimah, joined the UAE on 10 February 1972, following giant non-Arab neighbour Iran's annexation of the RAK-owned Tunbs islands. Like the other former Trucial States, Sharjah's name is known by many stamp
Dune
In physical geography, a dune is a hill of loose sand built by aeolian processes or the flow of water. Dunes occur in different sizes, formed by interaction with the flow of air or water. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the stoss side, where the sand is pushed up the dune, have a shorter "slip face" in the lee side; the valley or trough between dunes is called a slack. A "dune field" or erg is an area covered by extensive dunes. Dunes occur along some coasts; some coastal areas have one or more sets of dunes running parallel to the shoreline directly inland from the beach. In most cases, the dunes are important in protecting the land against potential ravages by storm waves from the sea. Although the most distributed dunes are those associated with coastal regions, the largest complexes of dunes are found inland in dry regions and associated with ancient lake or sea beds. Dunes can form under the action of water flow, on sand or gravel beds of rivers and the sea-bed; the modern word "dune" came into English from French c.
1790, which in turn came from Middle Dutch dūne. Dunes are made of sand-sized particles, may consist of quartz, calcium carbonate, gypsum, or other materials; the upwind/upstream/upcurrent side of the dune is called the stoss side. Sand is pushed or bounces up the stoss side, slides down the lee side. A side of a dune that the sand has slid down is called a slip face; the Bagnold formula gives the speed. Five basic dune types are recognized: crescentic, star and parabolic. Dune areas may occur in three forms: simple and complex. Barchan dunes are crescent-shaped mounds which are wider than they are long; the lee-side slipfaces are on the concave sides of the dunes. These dunes form under winds that blow from one direction, they form separate crescents. When the sand supply is greater, they may merge into barchanoid ridges, transverse dunes; some types of crescentic dunes move more over desert surfaces than any other type of dune. A group of dunes moved more than 100 metres per year between 1954 and 1959 in China's Ningxia Province, similar speeds have been recorded in the Western Desert of Egypt.
The largest crescentic dunes on Earth, with mean crest-to-crest widths of more than three kilometres, are in China's Taklamakan Desert. See lunettes and parabolic dues, for dunes similar to crescent-shaped ones. Abundant barchan dunes may merge into barchanoid ridges, which grade into linear transverse dunes, so called because they lie transverse, or across, the wind direction, with the wind blowing perpendicular to the ridge crest. Seif dunes are linear dunes with two slip faces; the two slip faces make them sharp-crested. They are called seif dunes after the Arabic word for "sword", they may be more than 160 kilometres long, thus visible in satellite images. Seif dunes are associated with bidirectional winds; the long axes and ridges of these dunes extend along the resultant direction of sand movement. Some linear dunes merge to form Y-shaped compound dunes. Formation is debated. Bagnold, in The Physics of Blown Sand and Desert Dunes, suggested that some seif dunes form when a barchan dune moves into a bidirectional wind regime, one arm or wing of the crescent elongates.
Others suggest. In the sheltered troughs between developed seif dunes, barchans may be formed, because the wind is constrained to be unidirectional by the dunes. Seif dunes are common in the Sahara, they range up to 300 km in length. In the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula, a vast erg, called the Rub' al Khali or Empty Quarter, contains seif dunes that stretch for 200 km and reach heights of over 300 m. Linear loess hills known; these hills appear to have been formed during the last ice age under permafrost conditions dominated by sparse tundra vegetation. Radially symmetrical, star dunes are pyramidal sand mounds with slipfaces on three or more arms that radiate from the high center of the mound, they tend to accumulate in areas with multidirectional wind regimes. Star dunes grow upward rather than laterally, they dominate the Grand Erg Oriental of the Sahara. In other deserts, they occur around the margins of the sand seas near topographic barriers. In the southeast Badain Jaran Desert of China, the star dunes are up to 500 metres tall and may be the tallest dunes on Earth.
Oval or circular mounds that lack a slipface. Dome dunes occur at the far upwind margins of sand seas. Fixed crescentic dunes that form on the leeward margins of playas and river valleys in arid and semiarid regions in response to the direction of prevailing winds, are known as lunettes, source-bordering dunes and clay dunes, they may be composed of clay, sand, or gypsum, eroded from the basin floor or shore, transported up the concave side of the dune, deposited on the convex side. Examples in Australia are up to 6.5 km long, 1 km wide, up to 50 metres high. They occur in southern and West Africa, in parts of the western United States Texas. U-shaped mounds of sand with convex noses trailed by elongated arms are parabolic dunes; these dunes are formed from blowout dunes where the erosion
This article incorporates public domain material from the Library of Congress Country Studies website http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/.
This article incorporates 
