Qulensya (; alt. Qalansiyah, Qalansia) is a town on the main island of

Socotra Socotra, locally known as Saqatri, is a Yemeni island in the Indian Ocean. Situated between the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea, it lies near major shipping routes. Socotra is the largest of the six islands in the Socotra archipelago as ...

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

. It is located in the Qulensya wa Abd al Kuri District, and its approximate population is 4,000.

History

The area around Qulensya is host to several

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

sites created at an undetermined time. One site called Simar Qar lies west of the town. It consists of what appears to be an altar stone and two

rock cupule Rock cupules () are artificially made depressions on rock surfaces that resemble the shape of an inverse spherical cap or dome. They were made by direct percussion with hand-held hammer-stones, on vertical, sloping or horizontal rock surfaces. ...

s with letters inscribed on the sides. Another site, known as ''Haida'', was discovered in 1900 to the north of the town towards the mountains, though its exact location is unknown. At this site, inscriptions were found which were believed to have been from either a late Himyaritic or an Ethiopic script. Before an 1876 protection treaty with the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

, the island of Socotra was barely governed by the ruling

Mahra Sultanate The Mahra Sultanate, known in its later years as the Mahra State of Qishn and Socotra ( ') or sometimes the Mahra Sultanate of Ghayda and Socotra ( '), was a sultanate that included the historical region of Al Mahrah Governorate, Mahra and the Gu ...

. Socotra was merely used as a tax farm by the sultan, who annually sent a relative to collect taxes in the form of

ghee Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from South Asia. It is commonly used for cooking, as a Traditional medicine of India, traditional medicine, and for Hinduism, Hindu religious rituals. Description Ghee is typically prepared by ...

. These taxes were primarily collected from the villages of

Hadibu Hadibu ( '), formerly known as Tamrida (), is a coastal town in northern Socotra, Yemen. It is the largest town in the small archipelago, with a population of 8,545 as of the 2004 census. Hadibu is the capital of the Socotra Governorate and the la ...

Qād̨ub Qād̨ub () - and also known as ''Kathub'', ''Qadhub'', or ''Qadib'' - is a town on the island of Socotra Socotra, locally known as Saqatri, is a Yemeni island in the Indian Ocean. Situated between the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea, ...

, and Qulensya. During this time period, Qulensya was one of the five largest villages on the island, though these five urban agglomerations altogether had a population of only 1,880 people. The British explorers Theodore and Mabel Bent began their tour of the island from Qulensya in December 1896, leaving from Hadibu in February 1897.

20th and 21st centuries

In 2003, a proposal by Yemen's public works authority was submitted to construct a road connecting Qulensya to the island's capital of Hadibu. This new construction would have violated Yemeni conservational law in place to protect the nearby Detwah Lagoon Nature Sanctuary, which the road would have cut through. After presidential intervention, the road was diverted around the sanctuary to follow the path of an already existing trail. More recent plans have also called for a road connecting Qulensya to the isolated fishing village of

Neet A NEET, an acronym for "Not in Education, Employment, or Training", is a person who is Unemployment, unemployed and not receiving an education or Vocational education, vocational training. The classification originated in the United Kingdom in ...

to its southwest, which is home to approximately 300 seasonal fishermen who spend much of the year in Qulensya itself. In December 2004, the island of Socotra was impacted by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami caused by an earthquake of at least 9.0 magnitude off the coast of

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

. The runup of the tsunami was roughly higher than usual in Qulensya, in line with estimates from across the island causing one fatality.

Demographics

Qulensya has a population of approximately 4,000, second only to Hadibu in size on the island. Together, these two urban settlements make up nearly a third of Socotra's total population of 44,000. They are some of the only settlements on the island which have been inhabited by migrants from mainland Yemen, and represent a growing trend of urbanization in the northern coastal regions of Socotra.

Geography

Qulensya lies at the northwestern corner of Socotra, at the end of the central Hajhir mountain range, which overlooks the town. Qulensya is situated in a relatively fertile plain compared to the rest of the island.

References

{{Reflist Populated places in Socotra Socotra Governorate Towns in Yemen

History

20th and 21st centuries

Demographics

Geography

See also

References