Socotra
an island in the Indian Ocean, 150 miles E. by N. from Cape Guardafui, and 220 from the S. coast of Arabia; 70 miles long by 20 broad; area, 1,380 square miles. The interior embraces numerous barren plateaus (1,500 to 2,000 feet), with several well-wooded mountains rising to 4,500 feet; there are fertile valleys between the ranges and belts of rich soil along the coast. The climate is moist and warm, but healthy.
Aloes and dragon's blood are the chief commercial products. The inhabitants, about 10,000 in all, live on dates and the produce of their sheep, goats and cows.
They belong to two distinct types-one with a comparatively light-colored skin and straight hair, the other darker with curly hair. But all alike speak the same peculiar language, which has certain affinities with the South Arabian dialect of Mahra. The people show traces of intermixture with Negro, Arab, and Indian tribes; and in ancient times the inhabitants of Socotra were believed to have been acquainted with Greek civilization and later to have been Nestorian Christians. From the 16th century at least they owed some sort of allegiance to the Sultan of Keshin on the Arabian coast.
After being occupied by Great Britain in 1835-1839, the island was taken under British protection in 1876 and formally annexed in 1886. Population about ten thousand.
SOCRATES