page_title: Liwa Oasis
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Liwa Oasis / Geography
caption_attribution_description: English: Liwa Oasis, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
context_page_description: The Liwa Oasis is a large oasis area in the Western Region of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates.
context_section_description: Liwa Oasis is about 97.6 km (60.6 mi) south of the Persian Gulf coast and 150 km (93 mi) southwest of the city of Abu Dhabi, on the northern edge of Rub' al Khali desert. It is centered around 23°08′N 53°46′E and stretches about 100 km (62 mi) east-west, along an arch curved to the north. It consists of some 50 villages. The geographic and economic center of the oasis is Muzayri`, where the highway from Abu Dhabi enters the oasis and then divides to the east (65 km (40 mi) to the easternmost village, Mahdar Bin `Usayyan) and west (45 km (28 mi) to the westernmost village, `Aradah). According to the census of population of 2005, the population was 20,196. Earlier estimates judging from satellite images which gauged the population at 50,000 to 150,000, were too high. The villages of Liwa Oasis are the southernmost settlements of Abu Dhabi and of the United Arab Emirates. The southern border of Abu Dhabi with Saudi Arabia, which runs at a distance between 16 and 35 km (9.9 and 21.7 mi) to the Oasis, is a straight line in the Rub al Khali desert, which is largely uninhabited. Mahdar Bin `Usayyan is the southernmost village of the Emirates, and also the easternmost of the oasis. 10 km (6.2 mi) south of the border, and 40 km (25 mi) south of the eastern part of the oasis is the Saudi oil facility Shaybah. However, there is no road linking Liwa Oasis and Shaybah, and no border crossing. A modern, multi-lane highway connects the oasis area to the capital, Abu Dhabi.
caption: The satellite image shows the location of the belt of oases along the northern reaches of the Rub al Khali dune fields. The unmarked border with Saudi Arabia is shown as a red line. To the north, irrigated areas along the highway to Tarif on the coast of the Persian Gulf are visible.
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