Al Jazirah Al Hamra

The town

The settlement was founded in the 17th century by the Za'ab tribe, on lands of the Al Qasimi rulers of Ras Al Khaimah. It stood on a tidal island in a shallow lagoon until the late 1970s, when the lagoon was filled in. It lived from pearl diving, fishing, boat building and date farming in the oases of Khatt and Fahlain, and by the early 20th century had about 500 houses and 2,500 to 3,000 residents.²

The village has a fort and watchtowers, a mosque, a souq and courtyard houses built of coral blocks, beach rock, mangrove beams and palm trunks. Archaeologists found its old mosque with 20 domes, shown on a British map from the 1820s. The residents left between 1968 and 1971, after oil was discovered.^1,3

Visiting

The village is on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List. From 1 June to 31 October it opens Tuesday to Sunday from 9am to 5pm, and from 1 November to 30 May from 10am to 6pm. Visitors are asked not to climb on or enter the buildings, as many are in disrepair.^1,2

Ras Al Khaimah has about 1,000 archaeological sites, many of them on the UNESCO Tentative List.⁴

Setting up

Source: UAE Government Portal: Steps to start a business on the mainland; UAE Government Portal: National Economic Register, business licensing authorities; UAE Government Portal: Accessing services for mainland companies^5,6,7