SOCOTRA

Image of Socotra

Unique three in Socotra

Map of Socotra

Location : Indian Ocean, Yemen.

The largest island, also called Socotra, is about 95% of the landmass of the archipelago. It lies some 240 kilometres east of the Horn of Africa and 380 kilometres south of the Arabian Peninsula. The island is very isolated and a third of its plant life is found nowhere else on the planet. It has been described as "the most alien-looking place on Earth". The island measures 132 kilometres in length and 49.7 kilometres in width.

Socotra is one of the most-isolated landforms on Earth of continental origin. The archipelago was once part of the supercontinent of Gondwana and detached during the Miocene epoch, in the same set of rifting events that opened the Gulf of Aden to its northwest. The main island has three geographical terrains: the narrow coastal plains, a limestone plateau permeated with karstic caves, and the Higher Mountains. The mountains rise to 1,503 metres.

      

      Cucumber three in Socotra                                                       Halah Cave

Socotra also have the unique of flora and fauna. Socotra is considered the jewel of biodiversity in the Arabian Sea. In the 1990s, a team of United Nations biologists conducted a survey of the archipelago’s flora and fauna. They counted nearly 700 endemic species, found nowhere else on earth. One of the most striking of Socotra's plants is the dragon's blood tree (Dracaena cinnabari), which is a strange-looking, umbrella-shaped tree. Its red sap was thought to be the dragon's blood of the ancients, sought after as a dye, and today used as paint and varnish. Also important in ancient times were Socotra's various endemic aloes, used medicinally, and for cosmetics. Other endemic plants include the giant succulent tree Dorstenia gigas, the cucumber tree Dendrosicyos socotranus, the rare Socotran pomegranate (Punica protopunica), Aloe perryi, and Boswellia socotrana. The island group also has a rich fauna, including several endemic species of birds, such as the Socotra Starling, Socotra Sunbird, Socotra Bunting, Socotra Cisticola, Socotra Sparrow, Socotra Golden-winged Grosbeak, and a species in a monotypic genus, Socotra Warbler.