Khawr al Udayd
Interesting facts
- Only in November 2021 did a Qatar–Saudi Arabia border demarcation move the line south and give Qatar the whole of the inlet.
- In the 1870s the settlement had about 200 Bani Yas tribespeople who owned some 30 pearling boats, guarded by a small fort with two towers.
- In 1835 the pirate Jasim bin Jabir settled here with his crew, prompting a British naval force to sail to the inlet the following year.
- Its sheikh claimed British protection yet was reported to fly the Ottoman flag on Fridays, a rumour British officials later confirmed.
- An early 20th-century British gazetteer described the deserted village as about 100 houses that drew drinking water from four brackish wells.
- In 1903 an Ottoman official named to govern Khor Al Adaid asked to be posted elsewhere after learning how desolate the place was.
- A 2010 survey found the inlet's coastal waters averaged just 4 metres deep, with salinity of about 57 units, far above ordinary seawater.
- A ridge of stony hills about 90 metres high, called Jabal Al Odaid, rises on the south side of the inlet's entrance.
- In 1886 Sheikh Jassim of Qatar set out from Doha to settle the inlet, but turned back after the Royal Navy sent a ship to stop him.
Why it is worth it
Khor Al Adaid is where the sand sea of southern Qatar runs straight into the Gulf. A winding tidal channel about 10 km long leads inland from the coast and opens into a lagoon roughly 10 km long and 5 km wide, enclosed by dunes that rise to between about 38 and 67 metres. Known to English speakers in Qatar as the Inland Sea, it lies at the southern edge of the country on the border with Saudi Arabia.
The landscape is unusual for the Gulf coast. Elsewhere along this shore onshore winds dominate, but here they blow mainly offshore, pushing quartz-rich dunes down to the water's edge, so that the coastal sediments are mostly siliceous sand rather than shell and carbonate. Around the lagoon lie sabkhas — salt flats — and tidal flats that form unusually quickly, and the lagoon itself is steadily filling in. The water is highly saline. Ospreys, dugongs and turtles are among the wildlife the area supports, and nomads have long grazed camels here. In 2007 it was declared a nature reserve covering about 1,833 square kilometres, the largest in Qatar, and the country has placed it on its tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage.
The name comes from khor, Arabic for creek, while adaid is linked by local explanation to the families of boat repairers who once lived here and serviced pearling vessels. In the 19th century a small fortified settlement stood on the shore, founded by groups of the Bani Yas tribe who broke away from Abu Dhabi in 1835, 1849 and 1869. Accused of harbouring pirates, it was sacked by Abu Dhabi forces in 1837, and in 1879 it was attacked again by the ruler of Abu Dhabi with British support, its inhabitants fleeing and the village destroyed. For decades afterwards the inlet was contested between Qatar, Abu Dhabi and the Ottoman authorities.
Getting there
Khor Al Adaid lies in Al Wakrah Municipality, about 78 km south of Doha; the town of Al Wakrah is about 68 km away. The usual approaches are from the direction of Mesaieed and Mazrat Turaina. Doha's airports lie about 75 km to the north; passenger flights use Hamad International Airport (DOH).
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
Khor Al Adaid, is a settlement and inlet of the Persian Gulf in Al Wakrah Municipality in southeast Qatar, on the border with Saudi Arabia. Approximately 78 kilometres (48 mi) south of the capital Doha, it is also known to local English speakers as the "Inland Sea". It formerly accommodated a small town and served as the center of a long-running territorial dispute between Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani and Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan. At the present, it is designated as a major tourist destination for Qatar.
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