Abu al Abyad ( Arabic : جزيرة أبو الأبيض ) (formerly Abu al Jirab) is the largest of about 200

islands This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water, and by other classifications. For rank-order lists, see the #Other lists of islands, other lists of islands below. Lists of islands by count ...

along the coast of the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

Geography

The island is situated in the emirate of

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

. Its area is . Settlements on the island include Al Jirab, Bū Līfīyāt, and Jazirah. The eastern section of the island is called Al Jirab (), while the western section is called Muqaysiţ (), and the westernmost point of the island is known as Ra's Muqay ().GeoNames geographical database
Muqay
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Environment

The island has been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because it supports populations of

western reef egret The western reef heron (''Egretta gularis''), also called the western reef egret, is a medium-sized heron found in southern Europe, Africa and parts of Asia. It has a mainly coastal distribution and occurs in several plumage forms: a slaty-grey ...

crab-plover The crab-plover or crab plover (''Dromas ardeola)'' is a coastal wader (shorebird). It is the only member of the genus ''Dromas'' and the family Dromadidae. It is unique among waders in making use of ground warmth to aid the incubation of its e ...

s and

Saunders's tern Saunders's tern (''Sternula saundersi''), sometimes known as the black-shafted tern, is a species of bird in the family Laridae. It is sparsely resident along the shores of the north-western Indian Ocean (namely southern Somalia, Arabian Peninsu ...

References

Islands of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi Important Bird Areas of Persian Gulf islands Important Bird Areas of the United Arab Emirates Central Region, Abu Dhabi {{UnitedArabEmirates-geo-stub