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Madha

The Omani territory of Wadi-e-Madhah is located surrounded by the United Arab Emirates, halfway between the Musandem Peninsula and the rest of Oman.
The enclave is on the Dubai-Hatta road in the Emirate of Sharjah. It covers approximately 75 km². The boundary was settled in 1969. It belongs to Wilayat Musandam.

The United Arab Emirates with city maps of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al Qaiwain, Ras al Khaimah and Fujairah", Published by : GEOprojects P.O. Box 113.5294, Beirut, Lebanon, Tel: +961-1-353000, Fax:+961-1-602029
Madha is a wholly Omani enclave within UAE. As with other more 'correct' maps, the NE corner of Madha is closest to the Khorfakkan-Fujairah road - and this was verified by photographs (below) where you can see the border post just approx 10m from the road.
There is an enclave of UAE wholly within Madha called Nahwa, but it belongs to Emirate of Sharjah.

 

Map made by: Tore Kjeilen

 

Madha


By Bertil Lindén

 

The Omani enclave of Madha is quite big but mostly empty, belonging to the Musandam territory of Oman further north. The only bigger development, the city of New Madha, is a very calm and quiet place. There are as well several villages outside New Madha if you continue the roads further into the enclave. There is no border control entering Madha, where as if you travel to the Musandam peninsula, you will need your passport. There are two roads leading to Madha, both from the United Arab Emirate of Fujeirah. One reaching New Madha from the north, and the other from the east (see New Madha satellite pic).

 

Interesting is that your mobile phone switches from UAE-providers to Oman Mobile, clearly stating that you are in a different country.

 

 

New Madha satellite image.

 

Entering the enclave you are welcomed by a sign to Wilayat Madha, but there is nothing written about Oman (if it’s not in Arabic). 

 

Inside, however, several signs point out that you are actually now in the Sultanate of Oman. 

 

Welcome to Madha!

 

The New Madha “city centre” is very quiet but has some shops and an office of the Omani International Bank. 

 

Most streets, however, are in the quiet residential areas. 

The six photos above are photographed by © Bertil Lindén, January 2007.

 

Earlier photos (from 2002)

Inside a shop in Madha

Inside a shop in Madha.

          

Madha border

Madha border.

 

Madha border looking North

Madha border looking North.

 

Madha Omani Flags

Madha Omani Flags.

 

Madha Border looking South

Madha Border looking South

 

Madha border looking North

Madha border looking North

 

Madha border post 2

Madha border post.

 

Welcome to Madha Arabic closeup

Welcome to Madha Arabic closeup.

 

Welcome to Madha Closeup

Welcome to Madha Closeup.

 

Madha Border closest to road 2

Madha Border closest to road

Madha Border closest to road 1

Madha Border closest to road.

Acknowledgements to an anonymous benefactor for Madha map and pictures.

Links:
«The UAE: Internal Boundaries And The Boundary With Oman, Studies in Arabian Geopolitics no. 4»:
http://www.archiveeditions.co.uk/Leafcopy/575-9.html

Litterature:
Biger, Gideon (Editor-in-chief): The Encyclopedia of International Boundaries, page 413, Facts On File, Inc., 11 Penn Plaza, New York NY 10001, USA, ISBN 0-8160-3233-5. 

Wilkinson, John C., Traditional Concepts of Territory in South East Arabia, Geographical Journal, The, vol. 149, pt. 3, pp. 301-315, 1983 (Nov). 

Wilkinson, John C., The Oman question: the background to the political geography of South-east Arabia, Geographical Journal, The, vol. 137, pt. 3, pp. 361-71, 1971 (Sep). 

UAE: INTERNAL BOUNDARIES & THE BOUNDARY WITH OMAN [Arabian Geopolitics 4 ] 8 volumes inc. 2 map boxes, 4000 pages; ISBN 1-85207-575-9. Ed. J. F. Walker, CMG, MBE 
Comprehensive collection of British documents covering the settlement of virtually all the onshore boundaries of the seven Emirates and the UAE–Oman boundary. The documentation from the 1949–1962 period is of particular importance because no boundaries in the area had been settled before 1949, while the majority of the onshore boundaries, both within the Trucial States and with Oman, were delimited by 1962. Contained in the map boxes is a superb collection of maps, including the series of 1957–1960 sketch maps originally drawn by the editor, former ambassador Mr J F Walker, and made public here for the first time.

(The last three publications in this list are quoted from Mr. Peter Rowland's Message 648, eGroups' «oman-l · Sultanate of Oman», Tue Oct 10, 2000  1:53 pm.)

 

This page was last time updated 24/01/12 .