Masafi

Quality 0.50 · 1 view · Updated 2 months ago

title: "Masafi" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["populated-places-in-the-emirate-of-fujairah", "villages-in-the-united-arab-emirates", "populated-places-in-the-emirate-of-ras-al-khaimah", "archaeology-of-the-united-arab-emirates"] topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masafi" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
official_nameMasafi
native_nameمسافي
image_skylineMasafi Fort.jpg
pushpin_mapUnited Arab Emirates
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_name
subdivision_type1Emirate
subdivision_name1Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah
area_total_km224.25
population_as_of2017-07-01
population_total7637
timezoneUTC+4
coordinates
elevation_ft1863
elevation_m567
image_captionMasafi Fort
::

| official_name = Masafi | native_name = مسافي | nickname = | motto = | image_skyline = Masafi Fort.jpg | image_flag = | image_seal = | image_map = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = United Arab Emirates | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = | subdivision_type1 = Emirate | subdivision_name1 = Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah | subdivision_name2 = | established_title = | established_date = | established_title2 = | established_date2 = | government_type = | leader_title = | leader_name = | area_magnitude = | area_total_sq_mi = | area_total_km2 = 24.25 | area_land_sq_mi = | area_land_km2 = | area_water_sq_mi = | area_water_km2 = | area_urban_sq_mi = | area_urban_km2 = | area_metro_km2 = | area_metro_sq_mi = | population_as_of = 2017-07-01 | population_footnotes = | population_total = 7637 | population_urban = | population_metro = | population_density_sq_mi = | population_density_km2 = | timezone = UTC+4 | utc_offset = | timezone_DST = | utc_offset_DST = | coordinates = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_ft = 1863 | elevation_m = 567 | website = | footnotes = | image_caption = Masafi Fort

Masafi () is a village located on the edge of the Hajar Mountains in the United Arab Emirates. It sits at the inland entrance of the Wadi Ham, which runs down to Fujairah City. The border between the emirates of Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah runs through the town, which houses a barracks used by the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces.

Before the construction of the Sharjah to Kalba road and the 'truck road' between Dibba and the 311 highway at Ras al-Khaimah, the road through Masafi was the only route from the interior to the East Coast of the UAE. The road from the inland town of Dhaid splits at Masafi, leading to Dibba to the north and Fujairah City to the south. The road connecting Masafi, Fujairah and Dibba was constructed in the 1960s by the Trucial Oman Scouts.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Falaj_at_Masafi_Fort.jpg" caption="Falaj]]'' (man-made underground aquifer) at Masafi Fort"] ::

A number of excavations point to Bronze Age habitation in Masafi, as well as a thriving Iron Age settlement with a sophisticated system of irrigation and water resource management, which appears to have been abandoned during the Iron Age III period at approximately 600 BCE.

There is evidence of ritual and community development during the Iron Age at Masafi, as well as of a snake cult which is also seen in many other Iron Age settlements across the UAE, including Saruq Al Hadid, Muweilah, nearby Bithnah, Ed-Dur, Tell Abraq, Rumailah and Qusais.

Masafi has a recently restored (2012) stone and adobe fort, smaller but architecturally similar to the nearby Al Bithnah Fort, also restored as part of the same project. The fort encloses an exceptional example of a falaj, an underground waterway constructed to channel water from the mountains to the oasis towns of the interior.

At the turn of the 20th century, Masafi was a village of some 50 houses, with the villagers being split between the Sharqiyin and Mazari tribes, with some 30 cattle, 350 sheep and 5,000 date palms.

Masafi was the site of a rough airstrip used by the Trucial Oman Scouts.

Climate

|location = Masafi, United Arab Emirates |single line = Y | Jan high C = 28.6 | Feb high C = 30.0 | Mar high C = 34.5 | Apr high C = 40.8 | May high C = 42.9 | Jun high C = 44.3 | Jul high C = 43.3 | Aug high C = 43.8 | Sep high C = 41.9 | Oct high C = 38.7 | Nov high C = 34.1 | Dec high C = 29.5 |year high C = | Jan low C = 7.6 | Feb low C = 6.7 | Mar low C = 11.4 | Apr low C = 13.4 | May low C = 18.0 | Jun low C = 22.7 | Jul low C = 25.6 | Aug low C = 24.7 | Sep low C = 21.6 | Oct low C = 18.3 | Nov low C = 13.9 | Dec low C = 8.0 |year low C = |Jan record high C = |Feb record high C = |Mar record high C = |Apr record high C = |May record high C = |Jun record high C = |Jul record high C = |Aug record high C = |Sep record high C = |Oct record high C = |Nov record high C = |Dec record high C = |year record high C= |Jan record low C = |Feb record low C = |Mar record low C = |Apr record low C = |May record low C = |Jun record low C = |Jul record low C = |Aug record low C = |Sep record low C = |Oct record low C = |Nov record low C = |Dec record low C = |year record low C= | Jan precipitation mm = 21.5 | Feb precipitation mm = 23.8 | Mar precipitation mm = 6.9 | Apr precipitation mm = 14.8 | May precipitation mm = 0.0 | Jun precipitation mm = 0.1 | Jul precipitation mm = 0.4 | Aug precipitation mm = 2.4 | Sep precipitation mm = 4.7 | Oct precipitation mm = 7.9 | Nov precipitation mm = 3.0 | Dec precipitation mm = 9.4 |year precipitation mm = |precipitation colour = green | unit rain days = 1 mm | Jan rain days = | Feb rain days = | Mar rain days = | Apr rain days = | May rain days = | Jun rain days = | Jul rain days = | Aug rain days = | Sep rain days = | Oct rain days = | Nov rain days = | Dec rain days = | year rain days = |source 1 = http://new.ncms.ae

Water bottling

Masafi is a branded producer of bottled water, juices and other consumer goods such as tissue paper. The company's 250,000 m2 bottling plant is located in the northern part of the town, part of Ras Al Khaimah. Capable of producing 90,000 bottles an hour, the plant produced, until 2017, the only bottled water in the UAE labelled as mineral water, changing its branding to identify as 'Deep Earth Water'.

In 1980, the company was the sponsor of the first Masafi Car Rally, a popular annual event no longer held.

Masafi Friday Market

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Masafi_Friday_Market.jpg" caption="The Masafi 'Friday Market' – actually open all week"] ::

Located some 5 km West of Masafi (on the Dhaid Road), the Masafi Friday Market (Souk Al Juma'a) is actually open week-round and has become a popular tourist destination, consisting of a number of permanent and semi-permanent stalls selling toys, souvenirs, plants, carpets and rugs, pots and fruit and vegetables. The market grew around a number of farmers and other vendors using the presence of speed bumps on the road slowing traffic to sell vegetables and accessories from the backs of their trucks and expanded over time to form the present township.

Much of one side of the market (on the Masafi/Dhaid carriageway) was destroyed by fire on 30 May 2015.

Sports

References

References

  1. [https://www.city-facts.com/musafi-fujairah-united-arab-emirates/population City Facts]
  2. McNabb, Alexander. (2025). "Children of the Seven Sands". Motivate Media Group.
  3. McNabb, Alexander. (2025). "Children of the Seven Sands". Motivate Media Group.
  4. (January 24, 2012). "French archaeological team discoveries in Fujairah".
  5. McNabb, Alexander. (2025). "Children of the Seven Sands". Motivate Media Group.
  6. McNabb, Alexander. (2025). "Children of the Seven Sands". Motivate Media Group.
  7. McNabb, Alexander. (2025). "Children of the Seven Sands". Motivate Media Group.
  8. Al Deberky, Salah. (25 July 2012). "History Rediscovered in Fujairah".
  9. Lancaster, William, 1938-. (2011). "Honour is in contentment : life before oil in Ras al-Khaimah (UAE) and some neighbouring regions". De Gruyter.
  10. Lorimer, John. (1915). "Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Vol II". British Government, Bombay.
  11. (August 2007). "Old Airfield in Masafi".
  12. "Masafi Production Facilities".
  13. Khan, Imran Nawab. "Masafi {{!}} Consumer".
  14. "Inaugural Masafi Rally 1980". Dubaiasitusedtobe.com.
  15. "Friday Market UAE". ae.fridaymarket.com.
  16. "Masafi Friday Market".
  17. "Browsing the Masafi roadside market".
  18. "Fire guts Friday Market in Masafi".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

populated-places-in-the-emirate-of-fujairahvillages-in-the-united-arab-emiratespopulated-places-in-the-emirate-of-ras-al-khaimaharchaeology-of-the-united-arab-emirates