Masafi
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name = Masafi
| native_name = {{lang|ar|مسافي}}
| nickname =
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| image_skyline = Masafi Fort.jpg
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| pushpin_map = United Arab Emirates
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{UAE}}
| subdivision_type1 = Emirate
| subdivision_name1 = Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah
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| area_total_km2 = 24.25
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| population_as_of = 2017-07-01
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| population_total = 7637[https://www.city-facts.com/musafi-fujairah-united-arab-emirates/population City Facts]
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| timezone = UTC+4
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| coordinates = {{coord|25|18|48|N|56|9|46|E|region:AE|display=inline,title}}
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_ft = 1863
| elevation_m = 567
| website =
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| image_caption = Masafi Fort
}}
Masafi ({{langx|ar|مسافي}}) is a village located on the edge of the Hajar Mountains in the United Arab Emirates. It sits at the inland entrance of the Wadi Ham, which runs down to Fujairah City. The border between the emirates of Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah runs through the town, which houses a barracks used by the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces.
Overview
File:Falaj at Masafi Fort.jpg (man-made underground aquifer) at Masafi Fort]]
Before the construction of the Sharjah to Kalba road and the 'truck road' between Dibba and the 311 highway at Ras al-Khaimah, the road through Masafi was the only route from the interior to the East Coast of the UAE. The road from the inland town of Dhaid splits at Masafi, leading to Dibba to the north and Fujairah City to the south.
A number of excavations point to Bronze Age habitation in Masafi,{{Cite web|url = http://fujairahinfocus.blogspot.ae/2012/01/french-archaeological-team-discoveries.html|title = French archaeological team discoveries in Fujairah|date = January 24, 2012|access-date = 21 October 2014|website = Fujairah in Focus}} which has a recently restored (2012) stone and adobe fort, smaller but architecturally similar to the nearby Al Bithnah Fort, also restored as part of the same project. The fort encloses an exceptional example of a falaj, an underground waterway constructed to channel water from the mountains to the oasis towns of the interior.{{Cite web|url = http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=data/nationgeneral/2012/July/nationgeneral_July379.xml§ion=nationgeneral|title = History Rediscovered in Fujairah|date = 25 July 2012|access-date = 21 October 2014|website = Khaleej Times|last = Al Deberky|first = Salah}}
At the turn of the 20th century, Masafi was a village of some 50 houses, with the villagers being split between the Sharqiyin and Mazari tribes,{{Cite book|last=Lancaster, William, 1938-|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/763160662|title=Honour is in contentment : life before oil in Ras al-Khaimah (UAE) and some neighbouring regions|date=2011|publisher=De Gruyter|others=Lancaster, Fidelity.|isbn=978-3-11-022340-8|location=Berlin|pages=191|oclc=763160662}} with some 30 cattle, 350 sheep and 5,000 date palms.{{Cite book|title=Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Vol II|last=Lorimer|first=John|publisher=British Government, Bombay|year=1915|pages=619}}
Masafi was the site of a rough airstrip used by the Trucial Oman Scouts.{{Cite web|url = http://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/442349-old-airfield-masafi-uae.html|title = Old Airfield in Masafi|date = August 2007|access-date = 13 October 2014|website = PPRuNe}}
{{clear}}
Climate
|location = Masafi, United Arab Emirates
|single line = Y
| Jan high C = 28.6
| Feb high C = 30.0
| Mar high C = 34.5
| Apr high C = 40.8
| May high C = 42.9
| Jun high C = 44.3
| Jul high C = 43.3
| Aug high C = 43.8
| Sep high C = 41.9
| Oct high C = 38.7
| Nov high C = 34.1
| Dec high C = 29.5
|year high C =
| Jan low C = 7.6
| Feb low C = 6.7
| Mar low C = 11.4
| Apr low C = 13.4
| May low C = 18.0
| Jun low C = 22.7
| Jul low C = 25.6
| Aug low C = 24.7
| Sep low C = 21.6
| Oct low C = 18.3
| Nov low C = 13.9
| Dec low C = 8.0
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| Jan precipitation mm = 21.5
| Feb precipitation mm = 23.8
| Mar precipitation mm = 6.9
| Apr precipitation mm = 14.8
| May precipitation mm = 0.0
| Jun precipitation mm = 0.1
| Jul precipitation mm = 0.4
| Aug precipitation mm = 2.4
| Sep precipitation mm = 4.7
| Oct precipitation mm = 7.9
| Nov precipitation mm = 3.0
| Dec precipitation mm = 9.4
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|precipitation colour = green
| unit rain days = 1 mm
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|source 1 = [http://new.ncms.ae]
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Water bottling
Masafi is a branded producer of bottled water, juices and other consumer goods such as tissue paper. The company's 250,000 m2 bottling plant is located in the northern part of the town, part of Ras Al Khaimah. Capable of producing 90,000 bottles an hour, the plant produced, until 2017, the only bottled water in the UAE labelled as mineral water,{{Cite web|url = http://www.masafi.com/en/corporate/about-us/production-facilities/|title = Masafi Production Facilities|access-date = 12 October 2014|website = Masafi|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120728063128/http://www.masafi.com/en/corporate/about-us/production-facilities/|archive-date = 28 July 2012|url-status = dead}} changing its branding to identify as 'Deep Earth Water'.{{Cite web|url=https://www.masafi.com/index.php?page=the-place|title=Masafi {{!}} Consumer|last=Khan|first=Imran Nawab|website=www.masafi.com|access-date=2018-08-03}}
In 1980, the company was the sponsor of the first Masafi Car Rally, a popular annual event no longer held.{{Cite web|url = http://www.dubaiasitusedtobe.com/pagesnew/MasafiRallyDubai1980.shtm#.VDokiGeSy-4|title = Inaugural Masafi Rally 1980|access-date = 12 October 2014|website = Dubai as it used to be|publisher =Dubaiasitusedtobe.com }}
Masafi Friday Market
Located some 5 km West of Masafi (on the Dhaid Road), the Masafi Friday Market (Souk Al Juma'a) is actually open week-round and has become a popular tourist destination, consisting of a number of permanent and semi-permanent stalls selling toys, souvenirs, plants, carpets and rugs, pots and fruit and vegetables.{{cite web|title=Friday Market UAE|url=http://ae.fridaymarket.com/|publisher=ae.fridaymarket.com|access-date=10 August 2016}}{{Cite web|url = http://www.uaeinteract.com/nature/natu_ems/en40.asp|title = Masafi Friday Market|access-date = 21 October 2014|website = UAE Interact}} The market grew around a number of farmers and other vendors using the presence of speed bumps on the road slowing traffic to sell vegetables and accessories from the backs of their trucks and expanded over time to form the present township.{{Cite web|title = Browsing the Masafi roadside market|url = http://gulfnews.com/multimedia/framed/general/browsing-the-masafi-roadside-market-1.785557|website = gulfnews.com|access-date = 21 May 2015}}
Much of one side of the market (on the Masafi/Dhaid carriageway) was destroyed by fire on 30 May 2015.{{Cite web|title = Fire guts Friday Market in Masafi|url = http://gulfnews.com/news/uae/emergencies/fire-guts-friday-market-in-masafi-1.1527165|website = Gulf News|access-date = 31 May 2015}}