Sir Abu Nuʽayr (Arabic: صِيْر أَبُو نُعَيْر, romanized: Ṣīr Abū Nuʽayr), also known as Sir Bu Nuʽayr (Arabic: صِيْر بُو نُعَيْر, romanized: Ṣīr Bū Nuʿayr), or Sir al Qawasim (Arabic: صِيْر ٱلْقَوَاسِم, romanized: Ṣīr Al-Qawāsim; also romanized as Sir Abu Neir, Sir Bu Nair or Sir Bu Nuair) is an island in the Persian Gulf.
Native name: صِيْر أَبُو نُعَيْر Nickname: Sir Bu Nuʽayr (صِيْر بُو نُعَيْر) Sir Al Qawasim (صِيْر ٱلْقَوَاسِم | |
|---|---|
 ISS image | |
  Sir Abu Nu'ayr Sir Abu Nuʽayr (United Arab Emirates) | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Persian Gulf |
| Coordinates | 25°13′54″N 54°13′20″E / 25.23167°N 54.22222°E |
| Total islands | 1 |
| Area | 13.23 km2 (5.11 sq mi)[1] |
| Length | 4.25 km (2.641 mi)[1] |
| Width | 4 km (2.5 mi)[1] |
| Highest elevation | 81 m (266 ft)[1] |
| Administration | |
| Emirate | Sharjah |
| Official name | Sir Bu Nair Island Protected Area |
| Designated | 2 December 2013 |
| Reference no. | 2191[2] |
Lying 65 kilometres (40 mi)[3] off the coast of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, roughly 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Abu Dhabi city, and 103 kilometres (64 mi) west of Dubai, it belongs to the Emirate of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.[4][5][6]
Geography and description
The island is almost perfectly round with a diameter of 4 kilometres (2.5 miles), and a 1 kilometre (0.62 miles) long extension at its southeast end, making the shape of the whole island appear as a drop.[7]
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.
The island, an environmentally protected area under the Sharjah Environment and Protected Areas Authority (EPAA),[8][9] has been registered on the list of wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,[10][11][12] and was in 2012 listed as a potential UNESCO World Heritage Site.[13]
Economy
Sharjah has a small harbour and an airfield (ICAO: OMSN),[14] both located at the island's southeast end.
Crescent Petroleum is the concession holder of the area.[15] 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.