Samha, Abd Al-Kuri, and Darsa Islands

The other 3 main islands of Socotra archipelago are situated to the west of the island of Socotra. The small island of Samha (10x5 km), home of about 100 people, is reached in 4 hours by boat from Qualansiya. Abd Al-Kuri is larger (25x5 km) with about 300 inhabitants and reachable in approximately 12 hours by boat. Both islands are barren with very little vegetation and drinking water is of poor quality. No schools or health facilities exist. The people of these islands depend on fishing and occasionally come to Socotra for medical help or trade, but in general they are extremely isolated. The island of Darsa is not inhabited. 3D Views of Socotra

3D Views of Socotra

Prepared by Rebecca Klaus on behalf of UNDP-GEF, 1999 ©

Landscape and Climate

Socotra is characterized by the Haghier Mountains, reaching 1525 m a.s.l., and located in the north-western part of the island. The eastern and central parts of the island receive some rain during fall and winter, while the western part of the island is arid. In spring, from March to May, temperatures usually rise above 40°C. The climate is characterized by the seasonal Monsoon winds, blowing from the North-East during the period October-May and from South-West during the period June-September. From June to September the island is accessible only by plane, because of exceedingly strong monsoon winds, and access by sea is virtually impossible due to high seas and strong winds all around the island. During this time, fishing is impossible and many people move from the northern coast to the mountains to escape the winds, and to harvest their date palms.


                           Map prepared by Rebecca Klaus on behalf of UNDP-GEF, 1999 ©

Socotra Island's beautiful and bizarre landscape

Socotra
( Piotr Kot )
Isolated from continental land masses for 18 million years, Yemen's Socotra Island showcases an alien-like landscape with unusual plants and animals, such as the blood dragon tree, pictured, and desert rose. Its high degree of biodiversity has earned it the name the "Galápagos of the Indian Ocean."

Where Is Socotra

Photos of Socotra

Halah Cave	Halah Cave	Halah Cave	Halah Cave
Halah Cave	Halah Cave	Dixam	Qlinsia
Nawjad

Socotra Transport

Public transport on Socotra is limited to infrequent minibuses to Qalansiya and to the villages on northeastern coast, car hire usually means hiring a 4WD car with driver.
Ships connect the only Socotra port - 5 km east of Hadibu with Yemeni coastal city of Mukalla (Al-Mukalla). According to information from the ports of Mukalla and Hadibu the journey takes 2–3 days and the service is used mostly for cargo.
Yemenia and Felix Airways fly from Socotra Airport to Sana'a and Aden via Mukalla (RIY - Riyan Airport). The Sana'a service is everyday, while Aden flights are available on Mondays (as of December 2009).

Socotra People and economy

The inhabitants are of Arab, Somali, and South Asian origins. They follow the Islamic faith and speak Soqotri, a Semitic language. Their primary occupations have been fishing, animal husbandry, and the cultivation of dates. Almost all inhabitants of Socotra, numbering nearly 50,000,^[9] live on the homonymous main island of the archipelago. The principal city, Hadiboh (with a population 8,545 at the census of 2004), the second largest town, Qulansiyah (3,862), and Qād̨ub (929)^{[citation needed]} are all located on the north coast of the island of Socotra. Only a few hundred people live on the islands of 'Abd-al-Kūrī and Samha; the island of Darsa and the islets of the archipelago are uninhabited.^{[citation needed]}
The archipelago forms two districts of the Hadhramaut Governorate:

• the district of Hadībū (حديبو), with a population of 32,285 and a district seat at H̨adībū, consists of the eastern two thirds of the main island of Socotra;
• the district of Qulansiyah wa 'Abd-al-Kūrī (قلنسيه وعبد الكوري), with a population of 10,557 and a district seat at Qulansiyah, consists of the minor islands (the island of 'Abd-al-Kūrī chief among them) and the western third of the main island.

Monsoons long made the archipelago inaccessible from June to September each year. However, in July, 1999, a new airport opened Socotra to the outside world year round, with both Yemen Airways and Felix Airways providing flights once a week to Aden and everyday to Sana'a. All flights stop at Riyan-Mukalla Airport (ICAO code "RIY"). Socotra Island Airport ("OYSQ") is located about 12 km west of the main city, H̨adībū, and close to the third largest town in the archipelago, Qād̨ub.^[14] Diesel generators make electricity widely available in Socotra, but even in Hadiboh there is no electricity from 5:00 A.M. until 9:00 A.M. daily.^{[citation needed]} An excellent paved road runs along the north shore from Quelensiyah to Hadiboh and then to DiHamri area; and another paved road, from the northern coast to the southern through the Dixsam Plateau.^{[citation needed]} Public transport is limited in Socotra; taxis are available only as a kind of rent-a-car service of four-wheel-drive vehicles with drivers.^{[citation needed]}
The former capital is located to the east of Hadiboh. A small Yemeni Army barracks lies at the western end of Hadiboh, and the President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has a residence there.^{[citation needed]}
The Semitic language Soqotri, spoken originally only in Socotra, is related to such other Modern South Arabian languages on the Arabian mainland as Mehri, Harsusi, Bathari, Shehri, and Hobyot. Soqotri is also spoken by minority populations in the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states.
Some residents raise cattle and goats. The chief export products of the island are dates, ghee, tobacco, and fish.
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.^{[citation needed]}
The majority of male residents on Socotra are reported to be in the J* subclade of Y-DNA haplogroup J. Several of the female lineages on the island, notably those in mtDNA haplogroup N, are found nowhere else on earth.

Socotra History

Map of the Socotra archipelago

There was initially an Oldoway (or Oldowan) culture in Socotra. Oldoway stone tools were found in the area around Hadibo by V.A. Zhukov, a member of the Russian Complex Expedition in 2008.^[3][4]
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").^[5]
A local tradition holds that the inhabitants were converted to Christianity by Thomas in AD 52. In the 10th century, the Arab geographer Abu Muhammad al-Hasan al-Hamdani stated that in his time most of the inhabitants were Christians.^{[citation needed]} Socotra is also mentioned in The Travels of Marco Polo according to which "the inhabitants are baptised Christians and have an "archbishop"" who, it is further explained, "has nothing to do with the Pope in Rome, but is subject to an archbishop who lives at Baghdad". They were Nestorians but they also practiced ancient magic rituals despite the warnings of their archbishop.^{[citation needed]}
In 1507, a fleet commanded by Tristão da Cunha with Afonso de Albuquerque landed an occupying force at the then capital of Suq, their objective was a Portuguese base to stop Arab commerce from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, and to liberate the presumed friendly Christians from Islamic rule. Here they started to build a fortress. However, they were not welcomed as enthusiastically as they had expected and abandoned the island four years later.^[6] The island was also come across by Somali sailors.^{[citation needed]}
The islands passed under the control of the Mahra sultans in 1511. Later, in January 1876, 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.^{[citation needed]} 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 30 November 1967, 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.

Socotra or Soqotra

Socotra or Soqotra (Arabic سُقُطْرَى ; Suquṭra) is a small archipelago of four islands in the Indian Ocean. The largest island, also called Socotra, is about 95% of the landmass of the archipelago. It lies off some 240 kilometres (150 mi) east of the Horn of Africa and 380 kilometres (240 mi) south of the Arabian Peninsula.^[1] The island is very isolated and through the process of speciation, a third of its plant life is found nowhere else on the planet. It has been described as the most alien-looking place on Earth.^[2]
Socotra is part of the Republic of Yemen. It had long been a part of the 'Adan Governorate, but in 2004 it became attached to the Hadhramaut Governorate, which is much closer to the island than 'Adan (although the closest governorate would be Al Mahrah).

The Socotra Archipelago

The Socotra Archipelago forms part of the Republic of Yemen, and is located in the northwestern Indian Ocean, some 350km south of the Arabian peninsula. The archipelago consists of the main island of Socotra (3625 km2 ) and three smaller islands, Abd Al Kuri, Samha and Darsa, and other rock outcrops (Koal Pharawn and Sabunya). The long geological isolation of the island from neighboring Arabia and Africa, has resulted in very high levels of endemism, which make the archipelago a site of global importance for biodiversity conservation. The island has in fact been historically known for its unique and spectacular vegetation.