The Musandam Peninsula (), locally known as Ruus Al Jibal ( Capes of the Mountains), is a

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

that forms the northeastern point of the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

Geography

The peninsula lies to the south of the

Strait of Hormuz The Strait of Hormuz ( ''Tangeh-ye Hormoz'' , ''Maḍīq Hurmuz'') is a strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean and is one of the world's most strategica ...

, between 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 ...

and the

Gulf of Oman The Gulf of Oman or Sea of Oman ( ''khalīj ʿumān''; ''daryâ-ye omân''), also known as Gulf of Makran or Sea of Makran ( ''khalīj makrān''; ''daryâ-ye makrān''), is a gulf in the Indian Ocean that connects the Arabian Sea with th ...

. It is inhabited by the

Shihuh The Shihuh (, ') is an Arab tribe living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman. In the singular, the name is Al Shehhi, a common family name in the UAE and Oman today. Inhabiting the northern part of the Hajar Mountain range, specifically in ...

tribe and is mainly governed by

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

as the

Musandam Governorate The Musandam Governorate () is a governorate of Oman. With the exception of the exclave of Madha, it is located on the Musandam Peninsula, which juts into the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow entry into the Persian Gulf, from the Arabian Peninsula ...

with certain parts governed by 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 ...

, including

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 ...

and parts of

Dibba Dibbā () is a coastal area at the northern tip of the eastern Arabian Peninsula on the Gulf of Oman. Political administration Dibba is politically divided into three segments: * Dibba Al-Fujairah, ruled by the Emirate of Fujairah, UAE * Dibb ...

. Land features include the

Western Hajar Mountains The Hajar Mountains (, ''The Rocky Mountains'' or ''The Stone Mountains'') are one of the highest mountain ranges in the Arabian Peninsula, shared between northern Oman and eastern United Arab Emirates. Also known as "Oman Mountains", they sepa ...

. Since these are the northernmost of the Hajar range, they and the peninsula are referred to as Ruʾūs al-Jibāl (). The largest

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 ...

in Mussandam is

Wadi Bih Wadi Bih () is a wadi that crosses the North-Western Hajar Mountains from the United Arab Emirates, and traversing Oman before returning to the UAE. From the West to the East, the crossing originates in Ras Al Khaimah, before cutting through the ...

, which forms the central

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

. The highest Mountain in Mussandam, and Ru'us al Jibal, is Jebel Harim.

Climate

During winter, the region can be fairly cool, particularly the mountains of Jais, Yanas and Mebrah.

Environment

Fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

include the

Ruus al Jibal fan-footed gecko The Ruus al Jibal fan-footed gecko (''Ptyodactylus ruusaljibalicus'') is a species of gecko. It is endemic to the ''Ru'us al-Jibal'', the northernmost of the Hajar Mountains in the Musandam Peninsula shared by Oman and United Arab Emirates ...

Arabian tahr The Arabian tahr (''Arabitragus jayakari'') is a species of tahr native to eastern Arabia. Until recently, it was placed in the genus '' Hemitragus'', but genetic evidence supports its removal to a separate monotypic genus, ''Arabitragus''. Desc ...

and

caracal The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized Felidae, wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long ...

. It is unknown if the

Arabian leopard The Arabian leopard (''Panthera pardus nimr'') is the smallest leopard subspecies. It was described in 1830 and is native to the Arabian Peninsula, where it was widely distributed in rugged hilly and montane terrain until the late 1970s. Today, t ...

is still present.

Important Bird Areas

The mountainous northern end of the peninsula 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 significant populations of bird species, whether resident, breeding, wintering or on passage. These include pallid scops-owl, plain leaf-warbler, hooded, variable, Hume's and red-tailed wheatears, and

pale rockfinch The pale rockfinch or pale rock sparrow (''Carpospiza brachydactyla'') is a small sparrow found in the Middle East and Central Asia. It is the only member of the genus ''Carpospiza''. Some authorities include it in the genus ''Petronia''. Other ...

. The islands scattered around the tip of the peninsula are in a separate IBA because of their importance for

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...

s, including

red-billed tropicbird The red-billed tropicbird (''Phaethon aethereus'') is a tropicbird, one of three closely related species of seabird of tropical oceans. Superficially resembling a tern in appearance, it has mostly white plumage with some black markings on the wi ...

, Persian shearwater,

Socotra cormorant The Socotra cormorant (''Phalacrocorax nigrogularis'') is a threatened species of cormorant that is endemic to the Persian Gulf and the south-east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is also sometimes known as the Socotran cormorant or, more ra ...

and

bridled tern The bridled tern (''Onychoprion anaethetus'')Sometimes the name is (wrongly?) spelled as ''S. anaestheta'', for instance in: is a seabird of the family Laridae. It is a bird of the tropical oceans. The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. Th ...

History

In the past, the region was an unstable region, and was repeatedly invaded by Persian empires such as the

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian peoples, Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, i ...

and the

Sassanian Empire 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 ...

. Then these empires declined until the Islamic era arrived.

Modern era

In the modern era, the occupation of the region continued. In the beginning, the Portuguese invasion arrived, which destroyed the region after it was a global navigation center at that time. Then a new force appeared, the

Ya'rubids The Yarubid dynasty (also Ya'ariba or Ya'arubi; ) were rulers of Omani Empire, Oman between 1624 and 1742, holding the title of Imam. They expelled the Portugal, Portuguese from coastal strongholds in Muscat Governorate, Muscat and united the cou ...

state, and expelled the Portuguese invasion of the Gulf and occupied the peninsula region. Then came

British colonialism The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts establish ...

. After the withdrawal of British colonialism, the

UAE 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 elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

was formed, but

did not join the UAE at that time. In 1972 AD, the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah joined the United Arab Emirates. Then the Emirati-Omani border has been officially settled.

Gallery

File:Jebal Harim.JPG, View of Jabal Harim from the Green Valley, March 2013 File:04CP View of Musandam.tif, View of the mountains of Musandam, December 1971 File:Jebel Qiwhi (16755252461).jpg, View of the ''Ru'us al-Jibal'' from

Jebel Qihwi Jabal Qihwi or Jabal Qa'wah () (), along with the Jabal Al Harim () and Jabal Bil Ays / Jebel Jais (), are the three highest and most representative mountains of the Musandam Governorate, in Oman. Jabal Qihwi has a prominence of and a topograp ...

File:Kumzar ca 1908.png, The mountainous area of Kumzar, File:Sedimentary Rock Layers near Khasab in Musandam Oman.jpg, Sedimentary rock layers near

Khasab Khasab () is a town and capital of the Musandam Governorate which is an exclave of Oman bordering the United Arab Emirates at the tip of the Musandam Peninsula by the Strait of Hormuz. It has been dubbed the "Norway of Arabia" because of its exten ...

, Oman File:Jabal ar Raḩraḩ - 1676 m.jpg , Jabal ar Raḩraḩ (1,676 m), the

's highest mountain, near

File:African monarch (danaus chrysippus).jpg, African monarch butterfly (''

Danaus chrysippus ''Danaus chrysippus'', also known as the plain tiger, African queen, or African monarch, is a medium-sized butterfly widespread in Asia, Australia and Africa. It belongs to the Danainae subfamily of the brush-footed butterfly Family (biology), f ...

'') in Zhighy Bay, Musandam Governorate File:Blue basker dragonfly (Urothemis edwardsii) Oman.jpg, Blue basker dragonfly ('' Urothemis edwardsii'') File:Rock semaphore gecko (pristurus rupestris) (12801641984).jpg, Rock semaphore gecko (''Pristurus rupestris'')

References

{{reflist

External links

Hiking: The Highest Points in the UAE
Important Bird Areas of Persian Gulf islands Important Bird Areas of Oman