Socotra

Yemeni island in the Indian Ocean; area 3,500 sq km/1,351 sq mi. Myrrh, frankincense, incense, aloes, and butter (ghee) are produced, and cattle and goats are reared. Under British protection from 1886, it became part of South Yemen in 1967. Its principal town is Hadiboh.

It is only 240 km/149 mi off the Horn of Africa, but high winds and seas isolate it for five months of the year, making it one of the most inaccessible places on Earth. A third of its 850 plant species are unique; many are remnants of flora long extinct from the African-Arabian mainland, from which Socotra separated around 10 million years ago.

It was under British protection as a dependency of Aden, the Mahri sultan of Qishn and Socotra having concluded a treaty with the British government in 1886. Its length east to west is 115 km/71 mi and its greatest breadth is 35 km/22 mi.