Location: Northwest Indian Ocean, off the coasts of Yemen and Somalia
Why it's incredible: It is a biodiversity hotspot that hosts hundreds of species found nowhere else on Earth.
Located about 250 miles (400 kilometers) south of the Arabian Peninsula and 140 miles (220 km) east of the Horn of Africa, the Socotra Archipelago is home to around 60,000 people. As of 2023, visitors could reach it only via a weekly flight from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, that had to be booked through WhatsApp and was often canceled without reason.
The bottle tree (Adenium obesum socotranum; left image) and the cucumber tree (Dendrosicyos socotranus; right image)from the Socotar Archipelago aren't found anywhere else in the world. (Image credit: Jeremy Woodhouse (left) and zanskar (right) via Getty Images))
Socotra was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008, thanks to its unique plants and animals, which have evolved in isolation for at least 15 million years. Socotra is a leftover fragment from when Arabia and Africa pulled apart around 30 million years ago. The split opened the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea.
MORE INCREDIBLE PLACESMore than one-third of Socotra's plants, 90% of its reptiles and 95% of its land snail species are found exclusively in the archipelago, according to UNESCO. The marine life in Socotra is also incredibly diverse; it includes sea turtles, whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) and more than 250 species of reef-building corals.
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