Page 433 - Truncal States to UAE_Neat

Notes to Chapter One

the measurements frequently differ by 50 per cent, due to the occurrence
of localised freak storms which might not bring a drop of rain at the
neighbouring gauge. Thus the maximum yearly total for the area in
1967/GO was recorded at Jabal Fayah in Sharjah territory as 130.1mm;
the minimum for that year, 66.6mm, was recorded at Diqdaqah in Ra’s al
Khaimah territory, only 60km away; (see: Hydrological Yearbook, 1969).
4 The importance of this particular configuration for certain charac­
teristics of the country’s society is for instance pointed out by
Wilkinson, J.C. “The Origins of the Omani Slate", in The Arabian
Peninsula: Society and Politics, edited by Hopwood, Derek London,
1972, pp. 67ff.
5 The geographical extent of the desert for which the term Rub* al Khali
applies is not undisputed. Depending on the angle and the distance from
which local and foreign travellers and geographers look at it, the whole |
of the Southern Desert of the Arabian Peninsula is referred to as Rub 'al
Khali when mentioned from far away. But the different parts of the i
desert have many local names. The resulting confusion among geogra­
phers is discussed by Bertram Thomas, himself a traveller in the area, in
his review of H.J.B. Philby’s book entitled The Empty Quarter: see
Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society, vol. 20 (1933), pp. 438ff. He
comes to the following conclusion: “Nothing can be clearer than that the
area properly called Rub'al Khali. . . stretches from the Persian Gulf to
the Indian Ocean and from the mountains of Oman to the mountains of
Aflaj and Nagran, as it has done from time immemorial" (p. 444).
6 The first account which Thomas gave contains many observations on
the nature of the country; see Thomas, Bertram S. “A Camel journey
across the Rub’al Khali" in Geographical Journal, vol. 78, 1931, pp.
209-42.
7 The Gulf extends for some 830km between the parallels of 24° and 30°
North latitude, and the meridians 48° and 57° East longitude. It has an
average width of about 200km. For more geographical data see: The
Persian Gulf Pilot, Comprising the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, and
the Makran Coast, 6th edn, 1915, London, Printed for the Hydrographic
Office, Admiralty, under the authority of HMSO.
8 Not all parts of the area have already been adequately surveyed. Thus,
statements concerning the size of the UAE and its member States
respectively are approximate and vary between 32,300 sq. miles
(83,660km2) and 29,950 sq. miles (77,570km2) for the UAE, but even
higher figures can be found. The areas of the seven States as given by the
statistician Dr Fenelon are:
Abu Dhabi 26,000 sq. miles 67,000 sq. km
Dubai 1,500 sq. miles 3,900 sq. km
Sharjah 1,000 sq. miles 2,600 sq. km
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