Khawr Fakkān

Khawr Fakkān

also spelled  Khawr al-Fakkān,  Khor Fakkan , or  Fakkān 

      exclave and port town located in Al-Shāriqah (Shāriqah, Al-) emirate, United Arab Emirates. It is on the east coast of the Musandam Peninsula, facing the Gulf of Oman (Oman, Gulf of); the port and its hinterland divide the emirate of Al-Fujayrah (Fujayrah, Al-) into its two major portions.

      Situated on a natural cove (Arabic: khawr), Khawr Fakkān was an important port in medieval times. It defied the conquering forces of Afonso de Albuquerque (Albuquerque, Afonso de, the Great), viceroy and governor of Portuguese India, who reduced it in 1507. In the following two centuries, it was fought over by the Portuguese, the Omanis, and the Persians, the Omanis finally prevailing. The sheikh of Al-Shāriqah, then a nominal ally of the sultan of Muscat and Oman, took advantage of the sultan's absence in his African possessions (1832) to seize Khawr Fakkān and most of the surrounding Shumayliyyah district. When Al-Fujayrah was recognized in 1952 by Britain (then protector of the Trucial States) as a separate state, most of the district passed to Al-Fujayrah, but the Khawr Fakkān area remained part of Al-Shāriqah. In addition to its frontiers with Al-Fujayrah, it borders a small section of Raʾs al-Khaymah emirate at the west, while in the south there is a section of undetermined sovereignty claimed by the sultanate of Oman.

      Khawr Fakkān has one of the few natural harbours in the United Arab Emirates, and certainly the best in Al-Shāriqah emirate, but, both because of its isolation and for political reasons, only a few investments in port improvements have been made there, notably a container port. Modernization has been confined chiefly to Al-Shāriqah city, the capital of the emirate, on the Persian Gulf. Despite this neglect, it was estimated that when the United Arab Emirates attained independence (1971), Khawr Fakkān was the busiest port in Al-Shāriqah emirate. It specialized in the smuggling of gold and luxury goods across the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea to Indian and Pakistani ports. It now has a cement factory and pipe works.

      From 1964 Al-Shāriqah supplemented its then-meagre revenues by issuing many postage stamps labeled “Khor Fakkan”; virtually all of these were printed for sale to collectors and served no legitimate postal purposes. Stamp issues of individual emirates and their dependencies were superseded by the creation of a central United Arab Emirates post office department in 1972. Pop. (2004 est.) 32,000.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Khawr Fakkan — Original name in latin Khawr Fakkn Name in other language Fakkan, Fakkn, Khawr Fakkan, Khawr Fakkn, Khawr al Fakkan, Khawr al Fakkn, Khor Fakhan, Khor Fakkan, Khor Fakkn, Khor al Fakhan, Khor al Fakkan, Khor al Fkhn, Khor Fakkan, Khorfakan,… …   Cities with a population over 1000 database

  • Khawr Fakkan — Khor Fakkan Khor Fakkan Administration Pays  Émirats arabes unis …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Khor Fakkan — Infobox City official name = Khor Fakkan name = Khor Fakkan native name = خورفكان pushpin pushpin map caption = Location of Khor Fakkan in the UAE settlement type = town leader title = Emir leader name = Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi area… …   Wikipedia

  • Chaur Fakkan — 25.33916666666756.356111111111 Koordinaten: 25° 20′ N, 56° 21′ O …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Hawr Fakkan — Khor Fakkan Khor Fakkan Administration Pays  Émirats arabes unis …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Hawr Fakkān — Khor Fakkan Khor Fakkan Administration Pays  Émirats arabes unis …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Khor Fakkan — Administration Pays  Emirats arabes u …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Khor Fakkan — Chaur Fakkan (arabisch ‏خور فكان‎, DMG Ḫaur Fakkān, auch Chūr Fakkan, nach englischer Umschrift auch Khawr Fakkan und Khor Fakkan) ist eine Stadt in den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten. Sie liegt am Golf von Oman, ist umgeben vom Emirat… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • United Arab Emirates — an independent federation in E Arabia, formed in 1971, now comprising seven emirates on the S coast (formerly, Pirate Coast or Trucial Coast) of the Persian Gulf, formerly under British protection: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al Qaiwain …   Universalium

  • Shāriqah, Al- — ▪ emirate, United Arab Emirates Arabic“The Eastern” English  Sharjah        constituent emirate of the United Arab Emirates (formerly Trucial States, or Trucial Oman). Some of Al Shāriqah s interior boundaries are only presumptive, but its main… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”