The Jiri plain is an area of gravel plain extending across areas of Southern

Ras Al Khaimah Ras Al Khaimah (; ), often referred to its initials RAK, is the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the U.A.E. The city had a population of 191,753 in 2025, and is the sixth-most populous city in UAE after Dubai, Abu ...

, Eastern

Sharjah Sharjah (; ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah and forms part of the D ...

and Western

Fujairah Fujairah City () is the capital of the emirate of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. It is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, seventh-largest city in UAE, located on the Gulf of Oman (part of the Indian Ocean). It is the only Em ...

, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The area, some 15 miles in length and 8 miles in breadth, is triangulated with the villages of

Khatt Khatt is a mountainous village south-east of the city of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. Famous for its hot springs, there is evidence that Khatt has been a site of constant human settlement since the stone age – a record of over 5,000 y ...

and Habhab to the North; Adhen to the East and

Dhaid Dhaid, or Al Dhaid (), is the capital of the Central Region of the Emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. An oasis town, it has extensive irrigated date palm plantations with water channelled from the nearby Hajar mountains, at least in p ...

to the South. To the West the plain is enclosed by sand dunes. The soil of the Jiri plain is darkened by debris brought down by seasonal waters from the mountains, which helps to define its rich, loamy character and high carbonate content (from the outwash of Cretaceous limestone). The plan is thickly populated by

acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

(''Acacia tortilis'') and ghaf trees, as well as

tamarisk The genus ''Tamarix'' (tamarisk, salt cedar, taray) is composed of about 50–60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa. The generic name originated in Latin and may refer to the Tamb ...

and other hardy varieties. A number of deep

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing material, consisting of permeability (Earth sciences), permeable or fractured rock, or of unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Aquifers vary greatly in their characteristics. The s ...

s run under the plain. The settled population of the area at the time of Lorimer's 1908 ''

Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf The ''Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia'' (nicknamed ''Lorimer'') is a two-volume encyclopedia compiled by John Gordon Lorimer. The ''Gazetteer'' was published in secret by the British government in India in 1908 and 1915 a ...

'' was some 1,000 strong, mostly members of the tribes of Awanat, Mazari, Naqbiyin, Sharqiyin (in the area of Wadi Ham) and some Zaab. The area was home to

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...

of the Ghafalah,

Bani Qitab The Bani Qitab (Singular ''Al Qetbi'', ) is an Arab tribe of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman. The singular form of the name, ''Al Ketbi'', is a common family name in the Northern UAE today. Consisting of a settled southern section and a n ...

and the Khawatir section of the

Na'im The Na'im () (singular Al Nuaimi ) are an Arab tribe in the United Arab Emirates. The tribe is also present in other gulf countries. The Na'im are divided into three sections, the Al Bu Kharaiban, the Khawatir and the Al Bu Shamis (singular ...

, who had been pushed north by their rivals, the Bani Kaab. Jiri Plain Camel

The plain, together with that of Dhaid and

Madam Madam (), or madame ( or ), is a polite and formal form of address for Woman, women in the English language, often contracted to ma'am (pronounced in American English and this way but also in British English). The term derives from the French la ...

, contains some of the most fertile and productive land in the UAE.

References

{{Reflist Plains of the United Arab Emirates