Jabal al-Tair Island
volcano island in Red Sea
Jabal al-Tair Island (or Jebel Teir, Jabal al-Tayr, Tair Island, Al-Tair Island, Jazirat at-Tair) (Arabic: جزيرة جبل الطير Jazīrat Jabal aṭ-Ṭayr, 'Bird Mountain Island') is a roughly oval volcanic island in Yemen, northwest of the constricted Bab al-Mandab passage at the mouth of the Red Sea, about halfway between mainland Yemen and Eritrea. From 1996 until an eruption in 2007, Yemen maintained two watchtowers and a small military base on the island.
After 124 years of dormancy, the volcano that created the island erupted on 30 September 2007.
Geography
The island is roughly oval, about 4.3 kilometres (2.7 mi) long, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) across at its widest and 11.48 km2 (4.43 sq mi) in area. It lies nearly halfway between Yemen 115 km (71 mi) to the east and Eritrea about 150 km (93 mi) south west. It is about 82 km (51 mi) from the Yemeni Kamaran Island; the Saudi Arabian Farasan Islands lie to the north east.
The island comprises the basaltic stratovolcano Jabal al-Tair (Tair Mountain; Arabic: جبل الطير Jabal aṭ-Ṭayr, literally, "Bird Mountain") rising from seabed some 1,200 metres (3,940 ft) below the surface of the Red Sea, continuing for 244 m (801 feet) above the surface up to the summit of the crater. The volcano was wrongly considered "recently extinct" by 1982.
It was the northernmost known Holocene volcano in the Red Sea, with one central vent, Jebel Duchan. It lies in the volcanic and geologically active region of the Red Sea Rift, the divergent boundary between the African Plate and the Arabian Plate.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Jabal al-Tair Island” as volcano island in Red Sea. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as volcano island in Red Sea. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q978441. Authority coordinates are 15.540, 41.830. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1996, 2007 and 1982.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Jabal al-Tair Island”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Jabal al-Tair Island primary sources, Jabal al-Tair Island archive and Jabal research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Jabal al-Tair Island”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Jabal al-Tair Island” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.