Madha and Nahwa: how an enclave inside an enclave ended up on the UAE map

On the map of the north-eastern UAE there is a place that looks like a printing error. The Omani territory of Madha is surrounded on all sides by the lands of three emirates — Fujairah, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah. And inside Madha itself lies another parcel: the village of Nahwa, belonging to the emirate of Sharjah. An enclave inside an enclave inside another country. There are only two such arrangements in the world.

How it happened

When the formation of the UAE was being prepared at the end of the 1960s, borders in this area were determined not with a ruler on a map but by asking. The British representative to the Trucial States, Julian Walker, travelled round the settlements and asked residents whom they wished to belong to. Madha chose Oman; Nahwa, inside it, chose Sharjah.

Why the story has a sequel

In the 1970s, when oil production began in the Emirates, the balance in the region changed. The choice made as of the late sixties turned out to be economically unfavourable for those who chose Oman: Madha remained outside the leap the neighbouring emirates made.

Something else is more telling — how that border came about. A territorial question between two countries was settled by a vote and by negotiation rather than by force, and it has not been revisited since. The Emirates themselves grew out of the same approach: on 2 December 1971 the rulers of six emirates — Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Umm Al Quwain, Fujairah and Ajman — signed the agreement creating a single state, with Ras Al Khaimah joining in 1972. Qatar and Bahrain declined to take part and became separate countries.

Getting there

The road runs off the highway between Fujairah and Khor Fakkan. No visa is required to enter Madha and there is no passport control, but it is Omani territory and Omani rules apply there. Mobile service switches to an Omani operator on crossing and roaming turns itself on — that is the one practical surprise awaiting most visitors.

There is not much to see: a mountain valley, palm gardens, a few dozen houses and a great deal of quiet. The value of the trip is in the fact of it — there are few places where you can change country three times in fifteen minutes without once showing a document.