OASISLIFE OF THE DESERT

                   

Oasis in Abu Dhabi emirate of the United Arab Emirates. There are no statistical data for inhabitants in Liwa available, but judging from satellite images, the extent of the region, and the distribution between some 50 villages, there may be between 50,000 and 150,000 inhabitants.

    South of Liwa Oasis, the empty desert of Rub al-Khali stretches out.

    The economy of Liwa Oasis rests on agriculture producing mainly dates, and some tourism. Infrastructure is excellent, with well-maintained farms. Green houses are used extensively, as well as fibreglass matting tunnels and drip irrigation for outdoor crops. Around the farms, high sand dunes rise.

    Abu Dhabi city is 200 km northeast, along a first-class highway.

    Liwa Oasis is shaped as a perfect arc, 120 km long, with the road to the rest of the country right at its middle.

    The central, and largest settlement is Mizaira'a. The easternmost settlement is Hamim, the westernmost is Arada.

    Traditionally, men from Liwa were pearl divers on the coast during the summer months.

    Liwa Oasis is the ancestral home of the rulers of Abu Dhabi, the an-Nahyan family.

Liwa Oasis Arabic: wāha līwā

LOCATION

GEOGRAPHY

• Liwa Oasis is about 100 km south of the Persian Gulf coast and 150 km SSW of the city of Abu Dhabi, on the northern edge of Rub' al Khali desert.

• 23 08 53 46 / 23.133 53.767 / 23.133; 53.767° ′N ° ′E °N °E and stretches about 100 km east-west, along an arch curved to the north. It consists of some 50 villages. The geographic and economic center of the oasis is Muzayri`, where the highway from Abu Dhabi enters the oasis and then divides to the east (65 km to the easternmost village, Mahdar Bin `Usayyan) and west (45 km to the westernmost village, `Aradah).

• There are no statistical data available, but judging from satellite images, the population is estimated at 50,000 to 150,000.[1]

• The villages of Liwa Oasis are the southernmost settlements of Abu Dhabi and of the United Arab Emirates. The southern border of Abu Dhabi with Saudi Arabia, which runs at a distance between 16 and 35 km to the Oasis, is a straight line in the Rub al Khali desert, which is largely uninhabited. Mahdar Bin `Usayyan is the southermost village of the Emirates, and also the easternmost of the oasis. 10 km south of the border, and 40 km south of the eastern part of the oasis is the Saudi oil facility Shaybah. However, there is no road linking Liwa Oasis and Shaybah, and no border crossing.

• A modern, multilane highway connects the oasis area to the capital, Abu Dhabi.[citation needed]

ECONOMY

• An important traditional branch of the economy is date farming. There is a widespread use of drip irrigation and greenhouses. The importance of tourism is on the rise. Liwa Hotel in Muzayri` boasts four stars. Liwa Rest House, in the same village and run by the government of Abu Dhabi, is the second establishment in the oasis. It is primarily aimed at minor officials and businessmen. Construction has begun on a third, 5 star, resourt (named Qasr Al Sarab). The nearby Moreeb duneWikiMiniAtlas

• 22 59 53 47 / 22.983 53.783 / 22.98° ′N ° ′E °N °E3; 53.783, 22 km south of Muzayri` on a small road (15 km as the crow flies), with 300 meter height one of the largest dunes in the world, attracts every year during the Liwa festival a large number of international and local visitors coming to see the offroad and camel racing events.

HISTORY

• The oasis is the place of birth of the ruling families of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

• The arc of the villages of Liwa were the focus of economic and social activity of the Bani Yas Tribe.

• In 1793, the ruling family Al Nahyan moved their residence from Liwa to the city of Abu Dhabi.

• Traditionally, men from Liwa (Bani Yas tribe) were pearl divers on the coast during the summer months. Pearl diving offered an additional source of income

• An aquifer system in the Liwa Crescent/ Bu Hasa area of the Emirate of Abu• Dhabi on the southeastern edge of the Rub al Khali, Arabian sub-continent, provides

insight into the timing• of ground-water recharge and the origin and evolution of solutes in a representative

hyperarid area. Groundwater• flow in the aquifer system is radially outward from the center of two ground-water

mounds,• corresponding to two 110 m-thick sand deposits. The isotopic data from ancient

ground waters from the• Liwa Oasis with its unusual “d” (deuterium excess) of approximately -15 indicate that

Holocene moisture• derived from previously evaporated water on the surface of the Indian Ocean rather

than from the• Mediterranean/Arabian Gulf. Such a source is consistent with a summer monsoonal

circulation. an aquifer system in the Liwa Crescent/ Bu Hasa area of the Emirate of Abu• Dhabi on the southeastern edge of the Rub al Khali, Arabian sub-continent, provides

insight into the timing• of ground-water recharge and the origin and evolution of solutes in a representative

hyperarid area. Groundwater• flow in the aquifer system is radially outward from the center of two ground-water

mounds,• corresponding to two 110 m-thick sand deposits. The isotopic data from ancient

ground waters from the• Liwa Oasis with its unusual “d” (deuterium excess) of approximately -15 indicate that

Holocene moisture• derived from previously evaporated water on the surface of the Indian Ocean rather

than from the• Mediterranean/Arabian Gulf. Such a source is consistent with a summer monsoonal

circulation.