Al Dhafra

The story of Al Dhafra

Al Dhafra forms the western part of the UAE and is the largest of the three municipal regions of Abu Dhabi. Its capital is Madinat Zayed, and it has seven townships: Madinat Zayed, Ruwais, Ghayathi, Liwa, Al Mirfa, Sila and Dalma.

The Liwa Oasis, at the edge of the Rub' Al Khali, is the area where the Bani Yas tribe, ancestors of the Al Nahyan family, originally settled.

Until 2017 the region was officially known as Al Gharbia, or the Western Region; the current name was the historical name of the westernmost part of the former Trucial Oman.

Archaeological finds include fossilised elephant footprints about seven million years old at Mleisa 1 and a camel-slaughter site in the Baynunah area dated to roughly 6,000 years ago. The 2010 census counted 202,154 people, and the region is important for oil and gas.

Falconry in Al Dhafra

The Al Dhafra Festival ties the region to falconry. Launched in 2008 at Madinat Zayed, it was described by Gulf News in 2018 as the world's largest festival of Bedouin traditions.

The tenth edition ran for 15 days, from 13 to 29 December 2018, with shows and contests for camels, dates, salukis and falcons, a traditional market with more than 200 shops, and a children's village. A falcon beauty contest (mazayna) was scheduled for 23 December that year.

Organisers announced more than 1,200 prizes worth about Dh35 million and expected roughly 80,000 visitors. Falconry here sits within a wider set of desert practices, which connects the region to the Bedouin hunting tradition behind the UNESCO falconry listing of 2010.