17 Facts About Socotra

Socotra or Soqotra is an island of the Republic of Yemen in the Indian Ocean, under the de facto control of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, a secessionist participant in Yemen's ongoing civil war.

In 2018, the United Arab Emirates invaded Socotra and relieved Yemeni government soldiers of their duties.

Socotra is a Greek name that is derived from the name of a South Arabian tribe mentioned in Sabaic and Hadramitic inscriptions as Dhu-Sakurid .

Socotra appears as Dioskouridou, meaning "the island of the Dioscuri", in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a first-century AD Greek navigation aid.

In 2015, cyclone Chapala and cyclone Megh struck Socotra, causing severe damage to the island's infrastructure, homes, roads, and power.

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In 2016 the United Arab Emirates increased supplies delivered to Socotra, which had been largely abandoned and forgotten during the ongoing conflict.

In February 2020, a regiment of the Yemeni Army stationed in Socotra rebelled and pledged allegiance to the UAE-backed separatist Southern Transitional Council in Socotra, renouncing the UN-backed government of Hadi.

Socotra is considered the jewel of biodiversity in the Arabian Sea.

Botanical field surveys led by the Centre for Middle Eastern Plants, part of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, indicate that 307 out of the 825 plant species on Socotra are endemic, i e, they are found nowhere else on Earth.

The entire flora of the Socotra Archipelago has been assessed for the IUCN Red List, with three Critically Endangered and 27 Endangered plant species recognised in 2004.

One of the most striking of Socotra's plants is the dragon's blood tree, which is a strange-looking, umbrella-shaped tree.

Socotra is one of the homes of the brush-footed butterfly Bicyclus anynana.

Christianity in Socotra went into decline when the Mahra sultanate took power in the 16th century, and the populace had become mostly Muslim by the time the Portuguese arrived later that century.

The majority of male residents on Socotra are reported to be in the J* subclade of Y-DNA haplogroup J Several of the female lineages, notably those in mtDNA haplogroup N, are unique to the island.

Primary occupations of the people of Socotra have traditionally been fishing, bee keeping, animal husbandry, and the cultivation of dates.

In February 2014, The Economist magazine reported that Socotra was being considered as a possible site for the Yemeni jihadist rehabilitation program.

Public transport on Socotra is limited to a few minibuses; car hire usually means hiring a 4WD car and a driver.