Bubiyan Island () is the largest

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

in the Kuwaiti coastal

chain situated in the north-western corner of the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

, with an area of . Bubiyan Island is part of the

Shatt al-Arab The Shatt al-Arab () is a river about in length that is formed at the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the town of al-Qurnah in the Basra Governorate of southern Iraq. The southern end of the river constitutes the Iran– ...

delta. The

Mubarak Al Kabeer Port Mubarak Al Kabeer Port is a port in Bubiyan Island, Kuwait. The port is currently under construction. In April 2021, the port's first phase was completed (4 berths). The port is part of China's Belt and Road Initiative. Purpose Mubarak Al Kabee ...

is currently under construction on the island. As part of the port's development, there are plans for Bubiyan Island to contain power plants and substations. A 5,000-megawatt power plant has already been built in the neighbouring Kuwaiti region of Subiya. Bubiyan is the largest of a group of eight islands situated just southwest of the mouth of the Shaṭṭ al-Arab, the river that divides Iraq and Iran.

History

Antiquity

Bubiyan was formed by debris from the Tigris–Euphrates river. There is archaeological evidence of

Sassanian The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

(300–650 AD) to early Islamic (650–800 AD) periods of human presence on Bubiyan as evidenced by the recent discovery of torpedo-jar pottery sherds on several prominent beach ridges.

Gulf War

During the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

of 1991, there was a big oil spill in the area; in addition to this, four spans of the bridge were destroyed; they were rebuilt in 1999. The island itself was converted to a military base in 1991. In November 1994,

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

formally accepted the UN-demarcated

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

with Kuwait which had been spelled out in

Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

Resolutions

687 __NOTOC__ Year 687 ( DCLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 687 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Eur ...

(1991), 773 (1992), and

833 __NOTOC__ Year 833 ( DCCCXXXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Byzantine-Arab War: Emperor Theophilos signs an armistice for peace with the Abbasid Caliphate. He of ...

(1993) which formally ended an earlier Iraqi claim to Bubiyan Island.

Ramsar Convention

In response to Kuwait becoming the 169th signatory of the

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on We ...

, the Mubarak al-Kabeer reserve was designated as the country's first Wetland of International Importance. The 50,948 hectare reserve consists of small lagoons and shallow

salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...

es and is important as a stop-over for migrating birds on two migration routes; Turkey to India and Eurasia to Africa. Breeding water-birds include the world's largest breeding colony of

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 ...

(''Dromas ardeola''), and the surrounding sea is a major nursery for many commercial fish species.

Geography

The island is mainly flat, while

es cover some coasts. There are several intermittent ''

wadi Wadi ( ; ) is a river valley or a wet (ephemerality, ephemeral) Stream bed, riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs. Wadis are located on gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the distal portion ...

s'' in the center of the island. It is separated from the Iraqi coast in the northeast by the ''Al-Zubayr'' channel and from the Kuwaiti mainland in the southwest by the ''Al-Sabiyyah'' channel. The latter channel trends around the northern end of Bubiyan Island, separating it from

Warbah Island Warbah Island () is an island belonging to Kuwait, located in the Persian Gulf, near the mouth of the Euphrates River. It is located roughly east of the Kuwaiti mainland, north of Bubiyan Island, and south of the Iraqi mainland. It is rough ...

. northwest of ''Ras al Barshah'', the southernmost point, Bubiyan is linked to the mainland by a concrete girder bridge over the ''Khawr as Sabiyah'' channel, long, built in 1981-1983 and opened February 1983. During high spring tides and southerly gales the wet, low lying mud flats that make up most of the island are encroached upon by sea water. The island is considered to be at risk of inundation due to

sea level rise The sea level has been rising from the end of the last ice age, which was around 20,000 years ago. Between 1901 and 2018, the average sea level rose by , with an increase of per year since the 1970s. This was faster than the sea level had e ...

Mubarak Al Kabeer Port

is part of China's

Belt and Road Initiative The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI or B&R), known in China as the One Belt One Road and sometimes referred to as the New Silk Road, is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the government of China in 2013 to invest in more t ...

. Under China's

, the Mubarak Al Kabeer Port is part of the first phase of the Silk City project. In September 2020, it was reported that the port is 53% complete. In March 2021, it was announced that Kuwait and Pakistan will develop linkages between

Gwadar Port The Gwadar Port ( ) is situated on the Arabian Sea at Gwadar in Balochistan province of Pakistan and is under the administrative control of the Maritime Secretary of Pakistan and operational control of the China Overseas Port Holding Compan ...

and Mubarak Al Kabeer Port. The Mubarak Al Kabeer Port is currently under construction. As part of Mubarak Al Kabeer Port's development, Bubiyan Island will contain power plants and substations. A 5,000-megawatt power plant has already been built in Subiya.

In literature

The island is mentioned in the 1933 science fiction work ''

The Shape of Things to Come ''The Shape of Things to Come'' is a science fiction novel written by the British writer H. G. Wells published in 1933. It takes the form of a future history that ends in 2106. Synopsis A long economic slump causes a major war that leaves Eur ...

'' by

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

, in which it provides the recreational facilities for a conference at

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Islands of Kuwait Disputed territories in the Persian Gulf Iraq–Kuwait border Islands of the Persian Gulf Uninhabited islands of Kuwait Ramsar sites in Kuwait Archaeological sites in Kuwait