Sarawat Mountains

Saudi Arabia & Yemen

Coordinates: 18.267200, 42.368100

The Sarawat Mountains, also known as the Sarat, is a mountain range in the western part of the Arabian Peninsula. In a narrow sense, the Sarawat start in Asir in southern Saudi Arabia, and extend to the Gulf of Aden in the south, running along the entire western coast of Yemen, in what used to be North Yemen, and extend eastwards into part of what used to be South Yemen, thus running parallel to the Gulf of Aden.

These mountains are mainly rocky though some contain vegetation. Many of the peaks are relatively young and jagged, but some are smoother from weathering. Nearing the Yemeni border, the Sarawat begins to spread into individual peaks. The Hejaz turns from a cliff to a gradual ascent up to the Yemeni Plateau.

Yemeni Sarawat

In Yemen, the Sarawat is divided into the western and central highlands. The western highlands receive plenty of precipitation, more than anywhere else in the peninsula. The central highlands have the highest mountains in the peninsula.

A very dramatic part of the Yemeni Sarawat are the Haraz Mountains, where a few peaks top 3,000 meters (9,800 feet), but the descents and views from the mountains are staggering; some foots of mountains are only at 500 meters above sea level, yet their peaks are at 2,800–3,300 meters. All of the mountains over 3,000 meters are located in Yemen, the highest of which is Jabal An-Nabi Shu’ayb near the capital Sana’a. At 3,666 meters, Jabal An-Nabi Shu’ayb is also the highest peak in Arabia.