Saba (redirected from Saba Island)

Saba, region, Arabian Peninsula

Saba: see Sheba.

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Saba, island, Netherlands Antilles

Saba (sä`bə), island (1990 est. pop. 1,100), 5 sq mi (13 sq km), Netherlands Antilles, one of the NW Leeward Islands. The rugged island is actually the cone of an extinct volcano rising to c.2,800 ft (850 m). Spiral roads winding up through steep cliffs and lush greenery make Saba a scenic island, but there are no sheltered harbors, and landing is difficult. The chief settlement, called The Bottom, is in the crater of the volcano. The Dutch settled the island in 1632.

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Saba

Island (pop., 1994 est.: 1,180) of the Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. It lies 16 mi (26 km) northwest of St. Eustatius, with which it forms the Lesser Antilles. It has an area of 5 sq mi (13 sq km) and is the peak of an extinct volcano, Mount Scenery. It was settled by the Dutch in 1632, but its inaccessibility and ruggedness prevented it from achieving economic importance and it was often a buccaneers' stronghold. The economy depends heavily on tourism.

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Saba

1. an island in the NE Caribbean, in the Netherlands Antilles. Pop.: 2498 (2004 est.). Area: 13 sq. km (5 sq. miles)

2. another name for Sheba (sense 1)

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saba [sə′bä]

(botany)

A plant (Musa sapientumvar.compressa) that is common in the Philippines; the fruit is a cooking banana.

(textiles)

A textile made from fibers of the saba plant.

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Saba 

the name of the tribal union of the Sabaean people; also, the name of the Sabaean state, the kingdom of Saba, which was located in southern Arabia, in what is now the Yemen Arab Republic.

Some indirect evidence suggests that the Saba tribal union existed as early as the tenth century B.C.; however, the Sabaean state arose no later than the eighth century B.C. The city of Marib was the residence of the rulers—mkrbs and kings—of the kingdom of Saba.

According to classical authors, the kingdom of Saba was an important trade intermediary between India and Qataban, Ha-dhramaut, the countries of the east coast of Africa, and the Mediterranean states. In the middle of the first millennium B.C., it subjugated all the other states of southern Arabia. In the beginning of the first century B.C., a considerable part of the kingdom was conquered by the Himyarite kingdom. Late in the second century A.D., the combined forces of Saba, Aksum, and Hadhramaut routed the Himyarite army and made the Himyarite kingdom a dependency of Saba. In the early fourth century, the lands of the kingdom of Saba passed to the Himyarite state, and the kingdom ceased to exist.