Sir Abu Nu'ayr
{{Short description|Emirati Island}}
{{Infobox islands
| name = Sir Abu Nu'ayr
| sobriquet = Sir Bu Nu{{ayin}}ayr ({{lang|ar|صِيْر بُو نُعَيْر}})
Sir Al Qawasim ({{lang|ar|صِيْر ٱلْقَوَاسِم}})
| image_name = Sir Abu Nu’ayr ESC large ISS006 ISS006-E-32078.JPG
| image_caption = ISS image
| image_size =
| map = United Arab Emirates
| map_caption = Sir Abu Nu{{ayin}}ayr (United Arab Emirates)
| map_relief = 1
| native_name = {{lang|ar|صِيْر أَبُو نُعَيْر}}
| location = Persian Gulf
| coordinates = {{coord|25|13|54|N|54|13|20|E|display=inline,title}}
| archipelago =
| total_islands = 1
| major_islands =
| area_km2 = 13.23
| rank =
| length_km = 4.25
| width_km = 4
| coastline_km =
| highest_mount =
| elevation_m = 81
| country = {{UAE}}
| country_admin_divisions_title = Emirate
| country_admin_divisions = Sharjah
| population =
| population_as_of =
| density_km2 =
| ethnic_groups =
| additional_info =
| module = {{Designation list
| embed = yes
| designation1 = Ramsar
| designation1_offname = Sir Bu Nair Island Protected Area
| designation1_date = 2 December 2013
| designation1_number = 2191{{Cite web|title=Sir Bu Nair Island Protected Area|website=Ramsar Sites Information Service|url=https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/2191|accessdate=25 April 2018}}}}
|disputed=Yes|country2=}}
Sir Abu Nu{{ayin}}ayr ({{langx|ar|صِيْر أَبُو نُعَيْر|Ṣīr Abū Nu{{ayin}}ayr}}), also known as Sir Bu Nu{{ayin}}ayr ({{langx|ar|صِيْر بُو نُعَيْر|Ṣīr Bū Nuʿayr}}), or Sir al Qawasim ({{langx|ar|صِيْر ٱلْقَوَاسِم|Ṣīr Al-Qawāsim}}; also romanized as Sir Abu Neir, Sir Bu Nair or Sir Bu Nuair) is an island in the Persian Gulf.
Geography
Lying {{convert|65|km}}{{cite web|url=http://www.moneyshow.com/investing/article/1/TheNational-32764/Mega-Projects-that-will-Shape-Emirates-Future/ |title=Mega Projects That will Shape Emirates Future |publisher=MoneyShow.com |date=2013-10-09 |accessdate=2014-01-24}} off the coast of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, roughly {{convert|80|km}} north of Abu Dhabi city, and {{convert|103|km}} west of Dubai, it belongs to the Emirate of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.{{cite book |author1=Peter Hellyer |author2=Simon Aspinall |author3=Environment Agency Abu Dhabi |author3-link=Environment Agency Abu Dhabi |title=The Emirates: a natural history |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3YcPAQAAMAAJ |date=January 2005 |publisher=Trident Press |isbn=978-1-905486-02-1}}{{cite book |author=Oxford Business Group |author-link=Oxford Business Group |title=The Report: Sharjah 2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fCZWUbZQruoC&pg=PA10 |year=2008 |publisher=Oxford Business Group |isbn=978-1-902339-02-3 |pages=10–}}{{cite web|url=http://www.buzzdubai.com/sharjah.htm |title=Welcome to |publisher=Buzzdubai.com |date= |accessdate=2014-01-24}}
=Geology=
The island is almost perfectly round with a diameter of {{convert|4|km|mile|abbr=off}}, and a {{convert|1|km|mile|abbr=off}} long extension at its southeast end, making the shape of the whole island appear as a drop.{{cite web|url=http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/wildlife-paradise-on-sir-bu-nair-island |title=Wildlife paradise on Sir Bu Nair island | The National |publisher=Thenational.ae |date=2011-05-23 |accessdate=2014-01-24}}
The island is a salt-piercement structure formed by the movement of late Neoproterozoic to Early Cambrian Hormuz Formation salt. The salt has moved progressively upward, puncturing through the younger overlying strata to create a salt dome structure. Surface expressions are composed of evaporite rocks, plus igneous rocks and quartzitic sandstone.
=Environment=
The island, an environmentally protected area under the Sharjah Environment and Protected Areas Authority (EPAA),{{cite web|url=http://www.khaleejtimes.com/biz/inside.asp?xfile=/data/uaebusiness/2013/May/uaebusiness_May150.xml§ion=uaebusiness |title=Business - Shurooq unveils Sir Bu Nuair Island project |publisher=Khaleejtimes.com |date=2013-05-08 |accessdate=2014-01-24}}{{cite web|last=Zabara |first=Manar |url=http://m.gulfnews.com/oil-slick-threatens-protected-island-near-sharjah-1.412358 |title=Oil slick threatens protected island near Sharjah | GulfNews.com |publisher=M.gulfnews.com |date=2001-04-05 |accessdate=2014-01-24}} has been registered on the list of wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,[https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/2191 Sir Bu Nair Island Protected Area]{{cite web|url=http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/tourism/sir-bu-nuair-island-registered-as-international-wetland-1.1269127 |title=Sir Bu Nuair Island registered as international wetland |publisher=GulfNews.com |date=2013-12-20 |accessdate=2014-01-24}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thenational.ae/uae/environment/sharjahs-sir-bu-nair-island-added-to-global-list-of-protected-areas |title=Sharjah’s Sir Bu Nair Island added to global list of protected areas | The National |publisher=Thenational.ae |date=2013-12-18 |accessdate=2014-01-24}} and was in 2012 listed as a potential UNESCO World Heritage Site.{{cite web|author=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5661/ |title=Sir Bu Nair Island - UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher=Whc.unesco.org |date=2012-01-30 |accessdate=2014-01-24}} The island has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports populations of Socotra cormorants, sooty gulls and bridled terns.{{cite web |url= https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/46857 |title=Sir Bu Na'air Island|author= |date=2024|website= BirdLife Data Zone|publisher= BirdLife International|access-date= 2024-09-06}}
= Economy =
Sharjah has a small harbour and an airfield {{Airport codes||OMSN|}},{{cite web|url=http://airportsbase.org/United_Arab_Emirates/all/Sir_Abu_Nair |title=Airport codes Sir Abu Nair, United Arab Emirates (AE) | ICAO, IATA codes, location of airports of Airport codes Sir Abu Nair, United Arab Emirates (AE) | latitude, longitude airports of Airport codes Sir Abu Nair, United Arab Emirates (AE) | coordinates of airports of Airport codes Sir Abu Nair, United Arab Emirates (AE) | International codes and coordinates of all airports in the world | International codes and coordinates of all airports in Airport codes Sir Abu Nair, United Arab Emirates (AE) |publisher=Airportsbase.org |date= |accessdate=2014-01-24}} both located at the island's southeast end.
Crescent Petroleum is the concession holder of the area.{{cite web |url=http://www.crescent.ae/html/abu-nuayr.html |title=Sir Abu Nu'ayr Concession | Select Projects | Crescent Petroleum |publisher=Crescent.ae |date= |access-date=2014-01-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228054351/http://www.crescent.ae/html/abu-nuayr.html |archive-date=2014-02-28 |df= }} The acreage is flanked to the north-northeast by Dubai's Fateh Oil Field complex, to the north by the Sirri Island oil field of Iran, and to the west by the prolific oil and gas fields of Abu Dhabi.
See also
- Zirku Island
- Al Marmoom Desert Conservation Reserve, Dubai
- Al-Wathba Wetland Reserve, Abu Dhabi
- Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve
- Jebel Hafeet National Park, Abu Dhabi
- Mangrove National Park, Abu Dhabi
- Ras Al Khor, Dubai
- Sir Bani Yas, Abu Dhabi
- Wadi Wurayah, Fujairah
- Wildlife of the United Arab Emirates