The Hawar Islands (; transliterated: Juzur Ḥawār) are an archipelago of desert islands; all but one are owned by Bahrain, while the southern, small, and uninhabited Jinan Island (Arabic: جزيرة جينان; transliterated: Jazīratu Jīnan) is administered by Qatar as part of its Al-Shahaniya municipality. The archipelago is situated off the west coast of Qatar in the Gulf of Bahrain of the Persian Gulf.

Description

The islands used to be one of the settlements of the Bahraini branch of the Dawasir who settled there in the early 19th century. The islands were first surveyed in 1820, when they were called the Warden's Islands, and two villages were recorded. Fresh water has always been scarce; historically it was obtained by surface collection and even today, with the desalination plant, additional supplies have to be brought in. most of the islands belong to Bahrain, having been a part of a dispute between Bahrain and Qatar which was resolved in 2001. The islands were formerly coincident with the district or Minṭaqat Juzur Ḥawār (مِنْطَقَة جُزُر حَوَار) and are now administered as part of the Southern Governorate of Bahrain. The land area of the islands is approximately .

Although there are 36 islands in the group, It has often been described as an archipelago of 16 islands. Janan Island, to the south of Hawar island, is not legally considered to be a part of the group and is owned by Qatar.

thumb|left|Socotra cormorant

Flora and fauna

There are small herds of Arabian oryx and sand gazelle on Hawar island, and the seas around support sea turtles and a large population of dugongs.

The islands are home to many bird species. The archipelago has been designated an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because it supports significant populations of western reef egrets, Socotra cormorants (with some 200,000–300,000 adults recorded in 1992, making it the largest known breeding concentration in the world), Saunders's and white-cheeked terns, and sooty falcons. Other breeding birds include Caspian and bridled terns, and ospreys. Wintering birds include great crested grebes and greater flamingos.

Conservation

The islands were listed as a Ramsar site in 1997. In 2002, the Bahraini government applied to have the islands recognised as a World Heritage Site due to their unique environment and habitat for endangered species; the application was ultimately unsuccessful.

List of islands

Hawar archipelago

By far the largest island is Hawar, which accounts for more than of the land area. || The island is long and varies in width from . Continuous beach ridge complex west coast, sloping bedrock rising west to east. Complex bay and cliff formations east coast fronted in places by subqa, jebel and terminals of east lower headlands aeolian formations calcified reef structures and algal mats.

{| class="wikitable"

! scope="col" width="200px" | Name

! scope="col" width="70px" | Arabic

! scope="col" width="100px" | Coordinates

! scope="col" width="100px" | Max height

! Comments

|-

|Jazīrat Mashtān (Mashtan) || جَزِيرَة مَشْتَان || || || Northernmost island and the closest to Bahrain Island. Roughly equidistant between there and the northernmost of the Hawar islands, Rubud Al Gharbiyah. Although very small at high tide, at low tide Mashtan is considerably larger.

|-

|Al Mu`tariḑ || اَلْمُعْتَرِض || || || A reef south-east of Mashtan.

|-

|Fasht Bū Thawr (Bu Thur) || فَشْت بُو ثَوْر || || || A low-tide elevation coral reef approximately long.

|}

See also

  • Qatar v. Bahrain
  • List of islands of Bahrain

References

  • Decision of the International Court of Justice on the Hawar dispute (2001)

Maps

  • Basic map with island names and features, p. 3
  • Topographical map
  • Geological map
  • Navigation chart, Bahrain & Hawar
  • Aerial photograph

Media

  • Bahrain Desert Birds, BBC Planet Earth. Taken from "Shallow Seas" (2006).