Socotra
Socotra, locally known as Saqatri, is a Yemeni island in the Indian Ocean. It is situated between the Gulf of Aden, the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea, and lies near major shipping routes. The largest of the six islands in the Socotra archipelago, it comprises around 95% of the landmass of the archipelago. It lies south of the Arabian Peninsula and east of the Horn of Africa. The inhabitants of the island are called Socotrans, and they speak Arabic and Soqotri.
Socotra is home to a high number of unique species that are endemic. Up to a third of its plant life is unique. Due to the island's unusual geography, it has been described as "the most alien-looking place on Earth". The island measures in length and across at its widest. In 2008, Socotra was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Etymology
Scholars' views vary regarding the origin of the island's name. One theory is that the term Socotra may derive from a Greek name that is derived from the name of a South Arabian tribe mentioned in Sabaic and Ḥaḍraumitic inscriptions as Dhū-Śakūrid. Another theory is that the Arabic term Suqutra breaks down as follows: suq means 'market', and qutra is a vulgar form of qatir, which refers to dragon's blood. The capital city of Socotra was Suq as reported by the Portuguese in the 16th century, which they referred to as market place.History
Prehistory
There was initially an Oldowan lithic culture in Socotra. Oldowan stone tools were found in the area around Hadibo in 2008. Socotra played an important role in the ancient international trade and appears as Dioskouridou, meaning "the island of Dioscurides" in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a first-century AD Greek navigation aid.The Hoq Cave contains a large number of inscriptions, drawings and archaeological objects. Further investigation showed that these had been left by sailors who visited the island between the first century BC and the sixth century AD. The texts are written in the Indian Brāhmī, South Arabian, Ethiopic, Greek, Palmyrene and Bactrian languages. This corpus of nearly 250 texts and drawings constitutes one of the main sources for the investigation of Indian Ocean trade networks in that time period.
Antiquity
In 880, an Aksumite expeditionary force conquered the island, and an Oriental Orthodox bishop was consecrated. The Ethiopians were later dislodged by a large armada sent by Imam Al-Salt bin Malik of Oman. According to the Persian geographer Ibn al-Mujawir, who testifies having arrived in Socotra from India in 1222, there were two groups of people on the island, the indigenous mountain dwellers and the foreign coastal dwellers. There were large settlements of Indian traders from Sindh and Balochistan.Ibn Hawqal, a 10th-century history chronicler, mentions Socotra in his book The Renaissance of Islam. He mentioned it as a prominent source of piracy, stating: "the island Socotra in particular was regarded as a dangerous nest of pirates, at which people trembled as they passed it. It was the point d'appui of the Indian pirates who ambushed the Believers there."
Middle ages
In 1507, a Portuguese fleet commanded by Tristão da Cunha with Afonso de Albuquerque landed at Suq and captured the port after a stiff battle against the Mahra Sultanate. Their objective was to set a base in a strategic place on the route to India. The lack of a proper harbor and the infertility of the land led to famine and sickness in the garrison, and the Portuguese abandoned the island in 1511. The Mahra sultans took back control of the island, and the inhabitants were converted to Islam.Modern
In 1834, the East India Company stationed a garrison on Socotra, in the expectation that the Mahra sultan of Qishn and Socotra would accept an offer to sell the island. The lack of good anchorages proved to be as much a problem for the British as the Portuguese. The sultan refused to sell, and the British left in 1835. After the capture of Aden by the British in 1839, they lost interest in acquiring Socotra. In 1886, the British government decided to conclude a protectorate treaty with the sultan in which he promised this time to "refrain from entering into any correspondence, agreement, or treaty with any foreign nation or power, except with the knowledge and sanction of the British Government". In October 1967, in the wake of the departure of the British from Aden and southern Arabia, the Mahra Sultanate was abolished.On 30 November 1967, Socotra became part of South Yemen. Between 1976 and 1979, the island served as a base for the Soviet Navy, although the South Yemeni government and president, Ali Nasir Muhammad, denied their existence. Slavery in the island was abolished under the rule of the Yemeni Socialist Party.
Since Yemeni unification in 1990, Socotra has been a part of the Republic of Yemen, affiliated first to Aden Governorate. Then in 2004, it was moved to be a part of the Hadhramaut Governorate. Later in 2013, it became a governorate of its own.
Socotra was impacted by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami which damaged 40 fishing boats, even though the island was away from the tsunami epicentre off the west coast of Aceh, Indonesia. In 2015, the cyclones Chapala and Megh struck the island, causing severe damage to its infrastructure.
Beginning in 2015, the UAE began increasing its presence on Socotra, first with humanitarian aid in the wake of tropical cyclones Chapala and Megh, and eventually establishing a military presence on the island. On 30 April 2018, the UAE, as part of the ongoing Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen, landed troops on the island and took control of Socotra Airport and seaport. On 14 May 2018, Saudi troops were also deployed on the island, and a deal was brokered between the UAE and Yemen for a joint military training exercise and the return of administrative control of the airport and seaport to Yemen. In June 2020, the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council seized control of the island in a coup, ousting the local authorities and establishing its own government. Although in 2023, the Presidential Leadership Council, Yemen's internationally-recognized government, integrated the STC into the government and recognized the STC's rule of the archipelago. Under its rule, peaceful protests against the coup and the UAE's interference in Socotra were violently dispersed, and journalists who criticized the coup were arrested and beaten.
Geography
Socotra is one of the most isolated landforms on Earth of continental origin. The archipelago was once part of the supercontinent of Gondwana. It detached during the Miocene epoch, in the same set of rifting events that opened the Gulf of Aden to its northwest. The island is culturally and administratively a part of Yemen, but geographically it belongs to Africa, for it represents a continental fragment that is geologically linked to the Somali Plate.The archipelago consists of the main island of Socotra, three smaller islands, Abd al Kuri, Samhah and Darsa, and two rocky islets, Ka'l Fir'awn and Sābūnīyah, both uninhabitable by humans but important for seabirds. The island is about long and north to south. The distance from Socotra to Cape Guardafui, its nearest point in the African mainland, is, and about from Ras Fartaq in mainland Arabia. It has three major physical regions:
- The narrow coastal plains with its characteristic dunes, formed by monsoon winds blowing during three summer months. The wind takes up the coast sand in a spiral and, as a result, forms the snow-white Socotran sand dunes.
- The limestone plateaus of Momi, Homhil and Diksam with its characteristic karst topography based on limestone rock areas intersected with inter-hill plains. For centuries until recently Socotra's main economic activity was subsistent transhumant animal husbandry, predominantly goats and sheep on these plateaus. The outcome is a unique and still active cultural landscape of agro-pastoralism with its characteristic rainwater harvesting systems.
- A central massif, the Hajhir Mountains, composed of granite and metamorphic rocks. rising to.
Climate
In an extremely unusual occurrence, the normally arid western side of Socotra received more than of rain from Cyclone Chapala in November 2015. Cyclones rarely affect the island, but in 2015 Cyclone Megh became the strongest, and only, major cyclone to strike the island directly.
Endemism
The Socotra archipelago has been dubbed the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean due to its ecological diversity and high rates of endemism. It has 835 vascular plant species, of which 37% are endemic. Six bird species, 95% of its terrestrial molluscs, and 90% of its reptiles are endemic to the archipelago. A 2016 genetic survey of all Socotran reptiles revealed unexpectedly high levels of cryptic diversity, indicating that the island's actual reptile diversity may be greater than currently recognized. Socotra is home to several native mammals, none of which are endemic.Endemic species
Due to the dry conditions and small size of the island, its fauna tend to be small.The island has several native bats and shrews, including the Etruscan shrew, which is the smallest mammal in the world by mass. Socotra is of particular interest to ornithologists. The island has been designated an endemic bird area.
Some of the island's most striking species are its endemic plants and trees. Socotra has many native drought resistant plants which have adapted to the island's arid environment by developing large, bulbous stems in which they store their water. One notable example is Dendrosicyos socotranus which is the only tree in the Cucurbitaceae family. This species, which can grow over six meters high, has specialized cells which expand to hold water during wet periods.
Due to the island's long arid periods, several endemic flora have developed an evolutionary strategy of longevity, prioritizing long individual life span over reproduction. These endemic flora are found in dry, low-lying areas of the island, and they grow slowly and rarely fruit or flower. These slow-growing endemic species are particularly vulnerable to climate warming, as increasing dry periods may prevent them from reproducing. One example is the Dragon's Blood Tree, or Dracaena cinnabari'','' which may be the most well known example of Socotran endemism. The tree contains a bright red sap which is used commercially. D. cinnabari has a very distinct appearance: its trunk branches out into an umbrella-like crown with tightly packed leaves and widespread branches. This plant structure is observed in arid climates which have atmospheric moisture. Tightly packed leaves and wide spread branches facilitate the condensation of water from moisture in the air, and the shade provided by the umbrella crown may prevent evaporation of moisture from the soil. One dragon's blood forest remains on the island. The average age of these trees is approximately 300 years. This suggests that the forest is over-mature, and indicates a decline in new growth.