Dibā

▪ United Arab Emirates and Oman

also called  Dībā al-Ḥiṣn , Dibā also spelled  Dībā , Dibbah , or  Dabā 

      settlement and port town located on the eastern (Gulf of Oman (Oman, Gulf of)) coast of the Musandam Peninsula on the larger Arabian Peninsula. It is situated on Dibā Bay and is surrounded by mountains. The town and its locality are part of two countries: the old port area and territory immediately south (Al-Shāriqah (Shāriqah, Al-) and Al-Fujayrah (Fujayrah, Al-) emirates) belong to the United Arab Emirates, while the territory north of the bay lies in the Sultanate of Oman.

      An important port of pre-Islamic Arabia, Dibā was traditionally renowned as a copper-exporting centre for the interior of Oman. It was a prosperous town at the time of the emergence of Islam and was one of the last important places of resistance to the new religion in the Arabian Peninsula. It was razed by the Muslims in the 7th century. In the 19th century the Qawāsim pirate chieftain Sulṭān ibn Ṣaqr gave the town as a fiefdom to one of his sons; his descendants, at various periods, claimed to be independent sheikhs.

      Now a small fishing village with adjacent palm groves and vegetable plots, Dibā has a central electricity supply and a small hospital. Roads and trails link it with coastal settlements to the south and with the Raʾs al-Khaymah emirate, across the Musandam Peninsula. Pop. (latest est.) 1,010.

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