Country Qatar | Municipality Madinat ash Shamal | |
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Ar Ru'ays (Arabic: اَلرُّؤَيْس), also spelled Al Ruwais, is a port town in the municipality of Madinat ash Shamal in Qatar. It is a birdwatching spot.
History
A British survey conducted on the area in 1890 describes Ar Ru'ays as "a small town on the mainland, 2 ½ miles south of Ras Rakan; it has four towers on the fort, which is the first thing seen from the northward when making the land. They have many boats, which run in over the reef, and anchor in shelter close to the beach. The fort is visible 6 or 7 miles".
At the start of the 20th century, Ar Ru'ays was described as such in J.G. Lorimer's Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf:
A village of Qatar, the nearest to the top of the promontory, about 2 ½ miles south of Ras Rakan. It is inhabited by about 70 families of the Sadah tribe who own 18 pearl boats, 2 other sea-going vessels and 10 fishing boats; they also have 4 horses and 20 camels. There is a reef in front of the village within which the boats belonging to it anchor. The place is protected by a small fort with four towers, and drinking water is fetched from the Umm Dha'an well, 1 ½ miles inland south of Ruwais.
Ar Ru'ays became the second settlement outside of the capital Doha to construct a formal school in 1954.