The Musandam Peninsula ( Arabic : جَزِيْرَة مُسَنْدَم \ رَأْس مُسَنْدَم , romanized : Jazīrat Musandam / Raʾs Musandam ), locally known as Ruus Al Jibal ( Arabic : رُؤُوْس ٱلْجِبَال , romanized : Ruʾūs al-Jibāl Capes of the Mountains ), is a peninsula that forms the northeastern point of the Arabian Peninsula .
5-840: The peninsula lies to the south of the Strait of Hormuz , between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman . It is inhabited by the Shihuh tribe and is mainly governed by Oman as the Musandam Governorate with certain parts governed by the United Arab Emirates , including Ras Al Khaimah and parts of Dibba . Land features include the Western Hajar Mountains . Since these are the northernmost of
10-608: The Hajar range , they and the peninsula are referred to as Ruʾūs al-Jibāl ( Arabic : رُؤُوْس ٱلْجِبَال , romanized : Capes of the Mountains ). The largest wadi in Mussandam is Wadi Bih , which forms the central drainage basin . The highest Mountain in Mussandam, and Ru'us al Jibal, is Jebel Harim . During winter, the region can be fairly cool, particularly the mountains of Jais, Yanas and Mebrah. Fauna include
15-637: The Ruus al Jibal fan-footed gecko , Arabian tahr and caracal . It is unknown if the Arabian leopard is still present. The mountainous northern end of the peninsula has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International 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 islands scattered around
20-616: 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 state, and expelled the Portuguese invasion of the Gulf and occupied the peninsula region. Then came British colonialism . After the withdrawal of British colonialism,
25-595: The tip of the peninsula are in a separate IBA because of their importance for seabirds , including red-billed tropicbird , Persian shearwater , Socotra cormorant and bridled tern . In the past, the region was an unstable region, and was repeatedly invaded by Persian empires such as the Achaemenid Empire and the Sassanian Empire . Then these empires declined until the Islamic era arrived. In
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