Socotra

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For the submerged rock/islet, see Socotra Rock.

Map of the Socotra archipelago

Socotra or Soqotra (Arabic سقطرى ; Suquṭra) is a small archipelago of four islands and islets in the Indian Ocean off the coast of the Horm Africa some 350 km south of the Arabian peninsula. It is a part of the 'Adan Governorate of the Republic of Yemen. The island is also claimed by Somalia.

1 Geography and climate
2 Flora and fauna
3 People and economy
4 History
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Geography and climate

Landsatview over Socotra 12°29′20.97″N, 53°54′25.73″E

Socotra is one of the most isolated landforms on Earth of continental origin (i.e., not of volcanic origin). The archipelago was once part of the supercontinent of Gondwana and detached during the Middle Pliocene (ca 6 million years ago), in the same set of rifting events that opened the Gulf of Aden to its northwest.

The archipelago consists of the main island of Socotra (3625 km² or 1400mi²), three smaller islands known collectively as "the Brothers" — Abd al Kuri, Samhah, Darsa — and other uninhabitable rock outcrops.

The main island has three geographical terrains: the narrow coastal plains, a limestone plateau permeated with karstic caves, and the Haghier Mountains. The mountains rise to 5000 feet (1525 meters). The island is a little over 130 km / 80 mi long east to west and typically 30-35 km / 18-22 mi north to south.

The climate is generally tropical desert, with rainfall being light, seasonal (winter) and more abundant at the higher ground in the interior than along the coastal lowlands. The monsoon season brings strong winds and high seas.

[edit] Flora and fauna

See also List of spiders of Socotra

Trees of genus Dracaena

The long geological isolation of the Socotra archipelago and its fierce heat and drought have combined to create a unique and spectacular endemic flora (which may, therefore, be vulnerable to introduced species such as goats and to climate change). Surveys have revealed that more than a third of the 800 or so plant species of Socotra are found nowhere else. Botanists rank the flora of Socotra among the ten most endangered island flora in the world. The archipelago is a site of global importance for biodiversity conservation and a possible center for ecotourism.

One of the most striking of Socotra's plants is the dragon's blood tree (Dracaena cinnabari), which is a strange-looking, umbrella-shaped tree. Its red sap was the dragon's blood of the ancients, sought after as a medicine and a dye. Another unusual plant is Dorstenia gigas.

The island group also has a fairly rich bird fauna, including a few types of endemic birds, such as the Socotra Starling Onychognathus frater, the Socotra Sunbird Nectarinia balfouri, Socotra Sparrow Passer insularis and Socotra Golden-winged Grosbeak Rhynchostruthus socotranus.

As with many isolated island systems, bats are the only mammals native to Socotra. In contrast, the marine biodiversity around Socotra is rich, characterized by a unique mixture of species that have originated in farflung biogeographic regions: the western Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, Arabia, East Africa and the wider Indo-Pacific.

[edit] People and economy

Almost all inhabitants of Socotra live on the main island. The principal city is Hadiboh (estimated population 43,000 in 2004). Abd Al Kuri and Samha have a population of a few hundred people between them; Darsa is uninhabited.

Traditionally, the archipelago has been inaccessible from June to September due to monsoon weather. However, in July 1999 a new airport opened Socotra to the outside year round. Most Socotris still live without electricity, running water or a paved road.

The Semitic language Soqotri is spoken only in Socotra, although it is related to other Modern South Arabian languages on the Arabian mainland such as Mehri.

The chief products of the island are dates, ghee, tobacco, and fish. Some residents also raise cattle and goats.

At the end of the 1990s a United Nations Development Program was launched with the aim of providing a close survey of the island of Socotra.

[edit] History

Socotra appears as Dioskouridou ("of the Dioscurides") in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a 1st century A.D. Greek navigation aid. In the notes to his translation of the Periplus, G.W.B. Huntingford remarks that the name Socotra is not Greek in origin, but derives from the Sanskrit dvipa sukhadhara ("island of bliss").

A local tradition holds that the inhabitants were converted to Christianity by Thomas in AD 52. In the 10th century the Arab geographer Abu Mohammed Al-Hassan Al-Hamdani stated that in his time most of the inhabitants were Christians. Socotra is also mentioned briefly in The Travels of Marco Polo according to which "the inhabitants are baptized Christians and have an archbishop" who, it is further explained, "has nothing to do with the Pope at Rome, but is subject to an archbishop who lives at Baghdad". In 1507, Portugal landed an occupying force at the then capital of Suq, to "liberate" the assumed friendly Christians from Arab Islamic rule. However they were not welcomed as enthusiastically as they expected and abandoned the island four years later.

The islands passed under the control of the Mahra sultans in 1511. Later, in 1886 it became a British protectorate, along with the remainder of the Mahra State of Qishn and Socotra. For the British it was an important strategic stop-over. The P&O ship Aden sank after being wrecked on a reef near Socotra, in 1897, with the loss of 78 lives.

In October 1967 the Mahra sultanate was abolished. On November 30th Socotra became part of the People's Republic of South Yemen (later to become the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen). Today it is part of the Republic of Yemen.

[edit] References

Biedermann, Zoltán. 2006. Soqotra, Geschichte einer christlichen Insel im Indischen Ozean vom Altertum bis zur frühen Neuzeit (Maritime Asia 17). Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 978-3-447-05421-8
Casson, Lionel. 1989. The Periplus Maris Erythraei. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-04060-5 .
Cheung, Catherine & DeVantier, Lyndon. 2006. Socotra: A Natural History of the Islands and their People. Edited by Kay Van Damme. Odyssey Books & Guides, ISBN 962-217-770-0.
Doe, D. Brian. 1970. Socotra: An Archaeological Reconnaissance in 1967. Edited by Henry Field and Edith M. Laird. Field Research Projects, Miami.
Doe, D. Brian. Socotra: Island of Tranquility. London: Immel, 1992.
Elie, D. Serge. Soqotra: South Arabia’s Strategic Gateway and Symbolic Playground. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, November 2006, 33(2), 131–160 ISSN 1353-0194 ISSN 1469-3542
Elie, D. Serge. Hadiboh: From Peripheral Village to Emerging City. Chroniques Yemenites, 12 (2004)
RBGE Soqotra Bibliography: at RBGE and Friends of Soqotra websites.
Schoff, Wilfred H. 1912. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. Longmans, Green, and Co., New York, Second Edition. Reprint: New Delhi, Oriental Books Reprint Corporation. 1974. (A new hardback edition is available from Coronet Books Inc. Also reprinted by South Asia Books, 1995, ISBN 81-215-0699-9)