Liwa oasis
Coordinates: 23 ° 8 ′ 0 ″ N , 53 ° 47 ′ 0 ″ E
The Liwa Oasis ( Arabic واحة ليوا, DMG Wāḥat Līwā ) is a large oasis area in the emirate of Abu Dhabi , which belongs to the United Arab Emirates .
geography
The Liwa Oasis is located 100 kilometers south of the coast of the Persian Gulf and 150 kilometers SSW of the capital Abu Dhabi on the northern edge of the desert Rub al Khali . Its center is at 23 ° 8 ' N , 53 ° 46' E and it extends around 100 km in an east-west direction, along an arch arched to the north. The oases are essentially located between the villages of Hameem in the east and Liwa in the west. In contrast to other oases, Liwa is not planted with greenery, which is why it is more of a large oasis area made up of more than 50 individual oases. The geographical and economic center of the oasis is Muzaira (Mezairaa), where the main road from Tarif meets the oasis and then forks east (65 km to the easternmost village, Mahdar bin Usayyan ) and western (45 km to the westernmost village) , Arada ).
The oasis belt is located in the Western Region (Al Gharbia) of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The settlement area extends over 1238 square kilometers. According to the 2005 census, the population of Liwa was 20,196. Earlier estimates of satellite images between 50,000 and 150,000 were exaggerated. However, since according to the Statistical Yearbook of Abu Dhabi 2009 the population in the entire Western Region was only 123,438 as of 2008, the population of the Liwa oasis had to be well below this upper limit.
The 39 villages of the Liwa Oasis are the southernmost settlements of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates, after Umm az-Zamul in the Al Ain region . The southern border with Saudi Arabia , which runs a distance between 16 and 35 km south of the oasis area, is a straight line in the Rub al-Kali Desert, which is largely uninhabited. Mahdar bin Usayyan is the southernmost place in the Emirates and the easternmost of the oasis. The Saudi oil city of Schaiba is 10 km south of the border and 40 km south of the eastern part of the oasis . However, there is no road connection between the oasis and Schaiba and there are no border crossings.
A modern trunk road, the E12, connects the oasis from Mezairaa with the nearest coastal town of Tarif and meets the coastal road E11, which leads to the capital Abu Dhabi. Another road running north-south, called E65, also leads east of Al Hama'im to E11.
economy
The date palm culture is an important industry . But other types of fruit, vegetables and grass for animal care are also grown in the oases. Since the sandy soil is not too salty and there is enough groundwater only a few meters below the surface of the earth, artificial irrigation systems such as drip irrigation can quickly bring the desert green. But greenhouses are also widespread. Tourism is also increasing, benefiting from the good infrastructure. The annual Liwa Date Festival ( Liwa Date Festival ) has around 75,000 visitors over ten days. The Liwa Hotel and Liwa Rest House in Mezairaa are mid-range hotels, while the Qasr Al Sarab in Al Hama'im is of a higher standard.
For sports tourists the Liwa Oasis is a tourist destination, the nearby moreeb dune around 25 kilometers south of the Oasis Center Muzairi (Mezairaa) at 22 ° 58 '47 " N , 53 ° 47' 10" O attracts racing fans. During the annual Moreeb Hill Championship , the 120 meter high dune (206 meters above sea level) is the venue for competitions.
history
Historical records mention the Liwa Oasis for the first time in the 17th century. At that time it was populated by the Bani Yas Bedouins, from which the ruling families of Abu Dhabi (Al Nayan) and Dubai (Al Maktoum) emerged. Traditionally, the men of Liwa were pearl divers on the coast during the summer months . This activity provided them with additional income. Today the rulers have their main residence in the capitals of their emirates and only maintain residences in the oasis.
Mastaba
In November 2012, the British magazine Observer reported that the work of art planned since 1997 by the artist couple Christo and Jeanne-Claude , based on an ancient Egyptian mastaba , will begin in 2013 south of the oases. It is an object made up of 410,000 empty oil drums, each with a side length of 400 meters and a height of 150 meters. The work of art, which costs 340 million US dollars, about 160 km from the city of Abu Dhabi, will be both the largest and the most expensive work of art in the world when it is completed.
Villages
The geographical names database of USGS lists 39 sites in the oasis area that are listed in the following table from west to east. Some of the more important villages are shown in bold.
Map with all coordinates of the Liwa oasis: OSM
The villages sometimes merge into one another without any clear delimitation, such as Tharwaniyya and an-Naschschasch (al Nashash).
Al Dhafra Festival
Every year in mid-December, the Al Dhafra Festival takes place in the Liwa oases.
Camel owners from all over the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia will then meet. You will spend the night in Bedouin tents in the desert, which are set up all around the camel racetrack. Camel races take place around the festival, as well as a camel beauty contest, in which the most beautiful camel is chosen. There is also a camel market and lots of folklore shows.
Individual evidence
- ↑ K. Kabasci, Julika Oldenburg, Peter Franzisky: United Arab Emirates. Manual for individual discovery. Reise Know How Verlag, 5th, completely updated edition 2007, p. 305
- ↑ GIS at Western Region Municipality ( Memento of the original from December 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 5.3 MB)
- ^ The Abu Dhabi Report , p. 167
- ↑ gates Kjeilen: Liwa Oasis. In: LexicOrient. Retrieved August 7, 2007 .
- ↑ Statistical Yearbook of Abu Dhabi 2009
- ↑ a b K. Kabasci, Julika Oldenburg, Peter Franzisky: United Arab Emirates. Manual for individual discovery. Reise Know How Verlag, 5th, completely updated edition 2007, p. 305.
- ↑ http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/heritage-culture/thousands-savour-liwa-date-festival-1.659906
- ↑ http://www.visitabudhabi.ae/en/news/tal.marab.aspx
- ↑ Complete Files of Geographic Names for Geopolitical Areas from GNS. (No longer available online.) In: Country Files. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, October 15, 2003, archived from the original July 9, 2012 ; Retrieved August 7, 2007 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ GIS at Western Region Municipality ( Memento of the original from December 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 5.3 MB), page 34
- ↑ http://aldhafrafestival.ae/?Lang=EN
