Earth from Space - Image Description

STS037-151-236 Socotra Island, Yemen April 1991
Located at the mouth of the Gulf of Aden 248 miles (400 km) south of the Saudi Arabian Peninsula, and 140 miles (225 km) from the Horn of Africa in northeast Somalia, the island of Socotra is 81 miles (130 km) long and 25 miles (40 km) wide, and covers an area of 1383 square miles (3582 sq km). The semiarid island is mountainous with a narrow coastal plain. Interior mountains rise to 5000 feet (1525 meters). The chief products of the island are dates, ghee, tobacco, and fish.

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