Liwa Oasis

Geography

Liwa Oasis is about 97.6 km south of the Persian Gulf coast and 150 km southwest of the city of Abu Dhabi, on the northern edge of Rub' al Khali desert. It is centered around and stretches about 100 km east-west, along an arch curved to the north. It consists of some 50 villages. The geographic and economic center of the oasis is Muzayri, where the highway from Abu Dhabi enters the oasis and then divides to the east (65 km to the easternmost village, Mahdar Bin Usayyan) and west (45 km to the westernmost village, Aradah). According to the census of population of 2005, the population was 20,196. Earlier estimates judging from satellite images which gauged the population at 50,000 to 150,000, were too high. The villages of Liwa Oasis are the southernmost settlements of Abu Dhabi and of the United Arab Emirates. The southern border of Abu Dhabi with Saudi Arabia, which runs at a distance between 16 and to the Oasis, is a straight line in the Rub al Khali desert, which is largely uninhabited. Mahdar Bin Usayyan is the southernmost village of the Emirates, and also the easternmost of the oasis. 10 km south of the border, and 40 km south of the eastern part of the oasis is the Saudi oil facility Shaybah. However, there is no road linking Liwa Oasis and Shaybah, and no border crossing. A modern, multi-lane highway connects the oasis area to the capital, Abu Dhabi.

Villages

tried to match a list of "important" villages (from de-Interwiki) with the village list from USGS Geo Names, could not match four

• Arda `Aradah
• Al-Hila
• Al-Mariyya Al Mariyah
• Ath-Tharwaniyya Tharwaniyah
• Batin
• Dhafir Zafir (Dhafr)
• Hamim Hamim
• Dscharrah
• Malqata Milqata
• Mazira
• Muzaira Muzayri`
• Nafir Nafir
• Nischasch An Nashshash
• Quatuf Qutuf
• Qurmida Qurmida
• Schah Shah -- The USGS Geographic Names Database lists 39 populated places in the area of the oasis, which are listed from west to east in the following table.

Economy

An important traditional branch of the economy is date farming. There is a widespread use of drip irrigation and greenhouses. The importance of tourism is on the rise. There are several hotels in the area including the Liwa Hotel in Muzayri`, Tilal Liwa Hotel, the Liwa Rest House in the same village and run by the government of Abu Dhabi, and the resort Qasr Al Sarab.

The nearby Moreeb dune (), 22 km south of Muzayri`, is 300 m high, and is one of the largest dunes in the world. It attracts people every year during the Liwa festival, where a large number of international and local visitors come to see the off-road and Liwa Moreeb Dune Festival, camel racing events.

History

The oasis is the place of birth of the ruling families of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. In 1793, the ruling family Al Nahyan moved their residence from Liwa to Abu Dhabi.

Traditionally, men from Liwa (Bani Yas tribe) were pearl divers on the coast during the summer months. Pearl diving offered an additional source of income.

The British explorer Wilfred Thesiger first arrived in Liwa around mid December 1946 in his first crossing of the Rub' Al Khali (Empty Quarter) desert. This was followed by a second visit by Thesiger in early March 1948 during his second crossing of the Rub' Al Khali (Empty Quarter) desert.

In popular culture

Desert areas east of the Liwa Oasis, in the Rub' Al Khali desert, were the set of the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which was used to represent the desert planet Jakku.

Desert scenes in the 2020 film Sonic the Hedgehog were filmed in Liwa Oasis.

Desert scenes of the desert landscape of Liwa was filmed to represent the planet Arrakis in the 2021 film Dune and 2024 film Dune: Part Two. Scenes from the 2024 Hindi feature film Bade Miyan Chote Miyan were also filmed here.

Gallery

File:Desert ripples (4184941765).jpg|The desert in the outskirts of Liwa Oasis File:Desert - panoramio (6).jpg|Sand dunes overlooking Liwa Oasis File:Further still (4184933045).jpg|Desert around Liwa File:Liwa Desert.JPG| Liwa desert File:Road to Tal Moreb (4185679430).jpg|Road to Tal Moreeb File:Castle - panoramio (22).jpg|Qasr Al Sarab in Liwa File:Mezairaa Fort.jpg|Mezairaa Fort File:Sand Gazelle 2.jpg|Arabian sand gazelle in Liwa

References

References

1. (21 March 2019). "The Report: Abu Dhabi 2010". Oxford Business Group.
2. (2010). "The Report Abu Dhabi 2010". Oxford Business Group.
3. "Liwa Oasis". Lexiorient.
4. "Complete Files of Geographic Names for Geopolitical Areas from GNS (ISO/IEC 10646 [Unicode UTF-8]". Earth-info.nga.mil.
5. "Qasr Al Sarab Abu Dhabi".
6. "Liwa International Festival / Moreeb Dune". Abu Dhabi Tourism Office.
7. Motohiro, Ono. (March 2011). "Reconsideration of the Meanings of the Tribal Ties in the United Arab Emirates: Abu Dhabi Emirate in Early ʼ90s". Kyoto Bulletin of Islamic Area Studies.
8. "Journey biographies {{!}} Thesiger's Journeys in Arabia - Second Empty Quarter Crossing 1947-8".
9. "Agosto Foundation :: Wilfred Thesiger - Journeys".
10. Thesiger, Wilfred. (1959). "[[Arabian Sands]]". [[Penguin Group]].
11. (3 December 2015). "The harsh reality of building a 'Star Wars' fantasy in Abu Dhabi". LA Times.
12. (25 March 2020). "Watch: Key 'Sonic The Hedgehog' scenes were filmed in Abu Dhabi's Liwa desert". The National.
13. (27 September 2021). "Why Denis Villeneuve Shot ‘Dune’ During Abu Dhabi’s Hottest Months: ‘Strange Haze in the Air’". IndieWire.
14. (5 March 2024). "Where was ‘Dune 2’ filmed? All the stunning locations revealed". Timeout.