Socotra
Socotra (or Soqotra) is a small archipelago of four islands and islets in the Indian Ocean off the Horn of Africa some 350 km south of the Republic of Yemen, which administers Socotra for the Banu Afrar Mahra Sultanate of Qishn and Socotra. The archipelago consists of the mountainous main island of Socotra (3625 km² ) and three smaller islands, Abd Al Kuri, Samha with a few hundred people and the uninhabited Darsa, and other uninhabitable rock outcrops. The climate is semi-desert, with rainfall being light, seasonal (summer) and limited to certain areas, particularly high ground.
Socotra has three geographical terrains: the narrow coastal plains, a limestone plateau permeated with karstic caves, and the Haghier mountains.
Socotra is one of the most isolated bits of land on earth of continental landmass origin (i.e., not of volcanic origin). The island probably detached from Africa as a fault block during the Middle Pliocene (ca 6 mya), in the same set of rifting events that have opened the Gulf of Aden to its north west. The long geological isolation of the archipelago and its fierce heat and drought have combined to create a unique and spectacular endemic flora that would be highly vulnerable to change; surveys have revealed that more than a third of the 800 or so plant species are found nowhere else. Botanists rank the flora of Socotra among the ten most endangered island flora in the world. The archipelago is a site of global importance for biodiversity conservation and a possible center for ecotourism. Even the Semitic language, Soqotri, is spoken only there.
As with many isolated island systems, bats are the only mammals native to Socotra. In contrast, the marine biodiversity around Socotra is rich, characterized by a unique mixture of species that have originated in farflung biogeographic regions: the western Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, Arabia, East Africa and the wider Indo-Pacific.
The monsoonal climate is strong: from June to September the island has traditionally been inaccessible, because of exceedingly strong monsoon winds and high seas and strong winds. In July 1999 a new airport opened Socotra to the outside year round. Most Socotris still live without electricity, running water or a paved road. At the end of the 1990s a United Nations Development Program was launched with the aim of providing a close survey of the island of Socotra.
Socotra was described in the 1st century CE in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a navigation aid. The explorer Tristão da Cunha put ashore in the early 16th century and considered Socotra conquered for Portugal.