Socotra Archipelago, Yemen

Abstract

Socotra Archipelago is in the northwest Indian Ocean, near the Gulf of Aden. It comprises four islands and two rocky islets which appear as a prolongation of the Horn of Africa. These isolated and almost inviolate islands lie between three biogeographic regions, African, Oriental, and Palearctic, forming a living laboratory which has preserved intact unique endemic ecosystems, a bizarre xerophytic flora, and a traditional culture living in balance with the environment. The coastal landscapes are varied: seacliffs, wave-cut platforms, fossil reef, cobble beaches, sandy beaches, raised beaches, and lagoons. Limestones are present, forming an extensive desert platform. There are also granitic mountains with maximum altitudes of about 1500 m.