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Ras Al Khaimah

 

Contents

Flag

Historical Flags

Meaning/Origin of the Flag

Coat of Arms

Map

Numbers and Facts

History

Origin of the Country's Name



Flag

Flagge Fahne Flag National flag national flag ensign State flag state flag Ras Al Khaimah Ras al-Khaimah Ra's al-Khaymah Ra's al-Chaima Ra's al-Chaimah Ras al-Kheimah Ra's al-Kheymah Ra's al-Cheima Ra's al-Cheimah
National and state flag,
ratio = 1:2,
Source, by: Flags of the World, Wikipedia (EN)



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Historical Flags

Flagge Fahne Flag Seeflagge sea flag Al-Qawasim Al-Qassimi Sharjah Schardscha Ras Al Khaimah Ras al-Chaima
to 1820, Al-Qawasim, in:,
Ras Al Khaimah,
Source: Limghadar, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons




Flagge Fahne Flag Seeflagge sea flag Merchant flag merchant flag ensign maritime peace treaty The White Pierced Red Vertragsstaaten Trucial States VAE Vereinigte Arabische Emirate UAE United Arfrom Emirates EAU Émirats Arabes Unis Al Imarat al Arabiyah al Muttahidah
1820, "The White Pierced Red",
Flag of the maritime peace treaty,
ratio = 1:1,
Source, by: Flags of the World




Flagge Fahne Flag Seeflagge sea flag Merchant flag merchant flag ensign The White Pierced Red Vertragsstaaten maritime peace treaty Schardscha Shardsha Sharja Sharjah Shariqah Ash-Shariqah al-Shāriqah
1820–1936,
Flag of the maritime peace treaty,
ratio = 1:2 & 1:3...,
Source, by: Flags of the World

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Meaning/Origin of the Flag

The flag history of the country begins with the piracy of Arab tribes, who were able to develop into very successful pirates in the region due to the confrontation between the major naval powers in the Napoleonic Wars and the recovery in world trade after Napoleon's defeat. The most important representatives of piracy were the tribal organisations of the Hinawi (Sheikdom of Abu Dhabi, later also Dubai and Fujairah) and of the Ghafiri (in the sheikhdoms of Umm Al Quwain and Ajman) and the powerful Al-Qawasim dynasty, which ruled in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah and later in Sharjah too. The Hinawi and Ghafiri used single-coloured red flags without defined side lengths. The Al-Qawasim, as a powerful naval power, already had a more modern flag. It was horizontally striped green-white-red with an Arabic inscription in the centre "Nassr min Allah wa fatah karib" → "By Allah to victory and total subjugation". United Kingdom, as the major naval power, decided to take military action against piracy and defeated the Arab tribes of the region, who were forced to sign a maritime peace treaty in 1820 to end piracy. The Arabs were bound to peace, but their ships were given freedom of movement in trade and were allowed to call at British harbours unhindered. To do so, however, they had to use the treaty flag of the maritime peace treaty on land and at sea, the "White Pierced Red" used in the British navy, apparently a previous square signalling flag. It was square white with a red square in the centre, one-ninth the size of the total area of the flag. However, in times of war, all signatories were allowed to revert to their previous flags. The treaty flag, the "White Pierced Red", was not very popular with the pacified Arabs, and when it was used, its shape was changed to an elongated form common in the region. However, the Al-Qawasim adopted the design as the flag of their emirates and it is still used there today. Initially only in Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah only came into being in 1869 through the division of inheritance after the death of Sultan ibn Saqr. Ras Al Khaimah adopted the flag of the maritime peace treaty unchanged as its national and state flag in 1936.

Source: Wikipedia (EN), Flags of the World, World Statesmen, Volker Preuß

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Coat of Arms


Wappen coat of arms Ras Al Khaimah Ras al-Khaimah Ra's al-Khaymah Ra's al-Chaima Ra's al-Chaimah Ras al-Kheimah Ra's al-Kheymah Ra's al-Cheima Ra's al-Cheimah
Coat of arms of Ras Al Khaimah,
Source: Original: Government of Ras al-Khaimah Vector: Siirski,
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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Map


Source: by UAE_en-map.png: Chumwa [CC-BY-SA-3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

Map of the country:

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Numbers and Facts

Area: 650 square miles

Inhabitants: 345.000 (2015)

Density of Population: 531 inh./sq.mi.

Capital: Ras Al Khaimah, 263.000 inh. (2015)

official Language: Arabic

other Languages: English, Hindi, Urdu, Farsi

Currency: 1 VAE-Dirham (Dh., AED) = 100 Fils

Time Zone: GMT + 4 h

Source: Wikipedia (DE)

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History

4th millennium B.C. · first settlement

ca. 1st millennium B.C. · settlement by Arabs

4th to 7th century A.D. · the area of the today's emirates belongs to the Persian Sassanid Empire

630 · introduction of Islam

632 · apostasy

634 · the area of the today's emirates is conquered by the Arab Caliphate, re-Islamization

middle ages · the area of the today's emirates belongs to Oman

16th century · military and commercial operations of the Portuguese

ca. 1650 · under the control of the Ottoman Empire

ca. 1750 · conquest by Bedouins, Beginning of piracy, the area is called "Pirate Coast", establishing the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah by the Qawasim Clan of the Huwayla Tribe

1806–1819 · actions of the British navy against the pirates

1819–1821 · Ras Al Khaimah is occupied by British troops

1820 · Peace Treaty for the end of piracy

1834 · renewal of the peace treaty

1853 · renewal of the peace treaty, "Perpetual Maritime Truce", Ras Al Khaimah becomes part of the "Trucial Oman", also called "Trucial States"

1869 · death of Sultan ibn Saqr of Ras al-Khaimah, division by heritage, establishing of the Emirate of Sharjah (incl. Khor Fakkan)

1892 · United Kingdom establishes its protectorate over the emirates

1900–1921 · Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah are temporarily reunited

2nd of December 1971 · United Kingdom grants independence to the emirates, establishing of the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai and Umm Al Quwain)

10th of February · accession of Ras Al Khaimah

Source: Wikipedia (EN), World Statesmen, Volker Preuß

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Origin of the Country's Name

The emirate is named after its capital: "Ras Al Khaimah". This translates as "tip of the tent". Another interpretation of the name sees it as the "tip of the headland", which could refer to the northernmost position of Ras Al Khaimah compared to the other emirates on the Musandam peninsula (Ruus Al Jibal). The Arabic pronunciation is represented very differently in Latin script, so that there are different spellings, as: Ras Al Khaimah, Ras al-Khaimah, Ra's al-Khaymah, Ra's al-Chaima, Ra's al-Chaimah, Ras al-Kheimah, Ra's al-Kheymah, Ra's al-Cheima, Ra's al-Cheimah. In the history of the city, the name "Julfar" plays a certain role, an ancient influential city, which is now located in the urban area of Ras Al Khaimah.

Source: Wikipedia (EN), Volker Preuß

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