Hawar Islands

The Hawar Islands are an archipelago of desert islands in the Gulf of Bahrain, off the western coast of Qatar, with a combined land area of about 52 square kilometers. All but the southern Jinan Island are owned by Bahrain, and the group is sometimes described as 36 islands and sometimes as 16, since many of the smaller formations are little more than sand accumulations resting on exposed bedrock. The main island, Hawar Island, accounts for more than 41 square kilometers and stretches about 18 kilometers long, reaching a highest elevation of 22 meters. Once settled by the Dawasir tribe in the early nineteenth century, the islands are now largely uninhabited apart from a police garrison and a hotel.