.jpg) The archipelago seen from the ISS | |
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| Geography | |
| Location | Red Sea |
| Coordinates | 13°45′N42°45′E / 13.750°N 42.750°E /13.750; 42.750 |
| Adjacent to | Bab-el-Mandeb |
| Major islands |
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| Highest elevation | 2,047 ft (623.9 m) |
| Highest point | Jabal Zuqar,Zuqar Island[1] |
| Administration | |
| Governorate | Al Hudaydah |
| Additional information | |
| Time zone | |
TheHanish Islands (Arabic:جزر حنيش,romanized: juzur ḥanīš,Tigrinya:ደሴታት ሃኒሽ,romanized: däsetat haniš) is anarchipelago in theRed Sea consisting of a trio of major islands at the centre of an array of smallerislets androcks.[1] The three major islands are the northernZuqar Island, the southern Great Anish (Al-anīsh al-Kabīr), and the significantly smaller Little Anish (Al-anīsh al-Ṣaghīr) in between. The archipelago is largely under the control ofYemen, with only several small south-western rocks and islets granted toEritrea following theHanish Islands conflict in 1994–1995.
TheOttoman Empire exercised claim over the Hanish archipelago until its dissolution followingWorld War I, after which the sovereignty and political status of the islands were left indeterminate by the 1923Treaty of Lausanne.[1]Italy exercised loose control over thefishermen frequenting the archipelago through itsgeographical proximity toItalian Eritrea, until the country's occupation by theBritish in 1915 to "forestall the Italians".[2][1]
In 1938 Italy and the United Kingdom signed the Anglo-Italian Agreement Regarding Certain Areas in the Middle East, which left the issue unresolved with both parties agreeing not to exercise sovereignty over the islands outside of the stationing of agreed officials.[3]
In 1962 the United Kingdom signed an international treaty affirming its continued maintenance of lighthouses on the archipelago, first established in the 1938 treaty, although this treaty was not signed by Ethiopia or North Yemen. Responsibility for the lighthouses was turned over to Yemen in 1989.[4]
Eritrean independence groups used the archipelago, particularlyZuqar Island, as a base for attacks on Ethiopian military interests, leading to the Ethiopian desire for control over the archipelago.[5]
Eritrea succeeded in gaining itsindependence in 1991, and subsequently began attempts to negotiate and exercise sovereignty over the archipelago, particularly Great Anish. The breakdown of peaceful negotiations with Yemen in 1995 resulted in theHanish Islands conflict, a territorial war that would last two years. In 1998, both countries agreed to accept arbitration, after which thePermanent Court of Arbitration determined that the archipelago belonged to Yemen, only granting several small islands and islets to Eritrean sovereignty. The conflict ultimately claimed the lives of 4-15 Yemenis and twelve Eritreans.[1]
The archipelago would become the scene of intense fighting during the2015 Yemeni Civil War, when forces loyal to formerpresidentAli Abdullah Saleh andHouthi insurgents on one side fought against forces loyal to acting presidentAbd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, backed byGulf Arab coalition forces, on the other.[6]
| Arabian Sea &Guardafui Channel |
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| Red Sea |
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| International | |
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| Geographic | |
