As a geographer, I am excited by political boundaries. Being in UAE for one week allowed me to explore the country on a deeper level. Seeing that there is a segment of Oman inside the UAE, without the need for passport control, I decided to drive to the mountainous village to have a look. Here are some definitions for you in case you are confused.

Enclave

An enclave is a portion of territory within or surrounded by a larger territory whose inhabitants are culturally or ethnically distinct.

Exclave

An exclave is a portion of territory of one state completely surrounded by territory of another or others, as viewed by the home territory.

A little bit of history. In 1971, when the UAE was formed, Oman decided to keep its Musandam and Madha territories as it would mean a strategic lose of maritime rights. UAE decided not to challenge the territorial rights to Oman, so now there is a peninsula of Musandam that is separated from mainland Oman. Crossing over to Musandam requires border formalities and the Oman-UAE border was closed due to Covid-19 when I travelled there. Musandam is really beautiful, they call it the Norway of the Middle East due to the spectacular fjords. I hope to visit it next time.

However, there is another enclave of Oman thet does not require passoport control. Within the Emirate of Fujairah you will find the Omani enclave of Madha – which includes the village of Nahwa, part of Sharjah Emirate! Also within the Emirate of Fujairah, you find another Omani enclave Dibba Al Hisn, which borders the Gulf of Oman and almost the Omani border.  Both of these enclaves are part of the Governate of Musandam. Look at the map for a clearer idea.

From the highway, I exited the small road and arrived in Madha town. Other than a small sign indicating the name of the town, there was no boundary at all. The only thing different was the street light, which were more impressive and that was how I knew I was in Oman territory. Surprisingly, the name of the main mosque in Madha is the same one as in Muscat, the capital.

This part of the country is mountainous and the dry, rocky cliffs remind me of the time when I was in Muscat and Nizwa. Other than a mosque and a police station, as well as the picture of the ruler of Oman, basically there was not much change in the surrounding. Besides that, I also received a message on my mobile “Welcome to Oman” from Omantel and that roaming charges apply.

I ventured further and went on to Nahwa. Nahwa is a tiny village. It is a territory that forms part of the Emirate of Sharjah in the UAE, a counter-enclave within the Omani territory of Madha, which is itself an exclave of Oman and an enclave within the UAE. This might seem a mouthful but here I was standing on no man’s life, a short distance of 50m where I can see the Omani flag on one side and the UAE flag on the other to mark the start of Nahwa territory.

When in Nahwa, I visited the exterior of the small Al Salam mosque. There were a few boys cycling around and they said hello to me. Continuing on the road, you would exit UAE and go back to Oman territory, on the other side of the mountains.

Lastly, I went back to Madha town and had a short hike up the old citadel which had elevated views of the village. I was trying to drive my way up, but after asking some friendly village kids, they told me the only way to get up was on foot. I parked my car, scared some goats while trying to scramble over rocks and finally reached the top after 15 minutes. It felt like I had visited two countries in a day, yet to the locals there it is seemingly normal and probably laughed at me, the silly tourist.

After the day’s adventure, I drove for 1h 40 minutes to Dubai, where I would spend my last night of the trip before heading home.

Another enclave that I have visited would be Lesotho – which is completely surrounded by South Africa. Lesotho is a kingdom comprised of approximately two million people which — at 11,720 square miles — is considered the largest enclave on earth.