Qualla: Khor Fakkan

Khor Fakkan: Introduction

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Look at a political map of the United Arab Emirates and Khor Fakkan makes no sense. It belongs to the Emirate of Sharjah but sits on the opposite coast, entirely surrounded by the Emirate of Fujairah, facing the Gulf of Oman rather than the Persian Gulf. The anomaly is a relic of tribal alliances that predate the modern state. But the city's geography -- a crescent-shaped bay flanked by two headlands, its Arabic name meaning 'Creek of the Two Jaws' -- makes perfect sense. This natural harbor has attracted settlement for at least three thousand years.

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Khor Fakkan: Layers of Occupation

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Evidence of post holes from wooden barasti huts links Khor Fakkan to settlements dating from the third to first millennium BC, similar to finds at Tell Abraq. Around 1500, the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa described it as a village 'around which are gardens and farms in plen...

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Khor Fakkan: Invasions and Endurance

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In 1737, nearly a century after the Portuguese had been expelled from Arabia, the Persians invaded Khor Fakkan with 5,000 men and 1,580 horses, aided by the Dutch, during their intervention in the Omani civil war. The city changed hands repeatedly across the centuries, its strate...

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Khor Fakkan: The Drowned Village

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In the mountains off the Sharjah-Khor Fakkan highway lies Al Rifaisa Dam, spanning over 10,684 square meters. The dam was built over a village, and when the water is very still, the tops of old houses become visible beneath the surface. It is a haunting sight: rooftops emerging f...

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Khor Fakkan: Deep Water, Deep Connections

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The modern Khor Fakkan Container Terminal, inaugurated in 1979, is the only natural deep-sea port in the region. With 16-meter-deep quays capable of accommodating vessels over 400 meters long, it handled 1.6 million TEUs by 2004. The port sits on the Maritime Silk Road, connectin...

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Khor Fakkan: A U-Boat Off the Coast

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Twenty-five miles offshore, at a depth of 108 meters, lies the wreck of German submarine U-533. Sunk on October 16, 1943, during World War II by depth charges from a British Bisley bomber, the U-boat carried a crew of 53. Only one man survived: Matrosengefreiter Gunther Schmidt, ...

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