[6] The terrain of Abd al-Kuri is semi-arid, with little vegetation; annual monsoons, originating from the Indian Subcontinent, deliver vital precipitation each year.

[10][11][12] The island has been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA), by BirdLife International, for the presence of the endemic sparrow as well as for breeding colonies of the red-billed tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus), sooty gull (Ichthyaetus hemprichii) and Persian shearwater (Puffinus persicus).

[17] Thomas Fellowes was sent on HMS Briton in 1872 to Abd al Kuri, alongside Socotra, by British authorities to see if it would be a suitable place to settle liberated slaves.

[18] In late june of 2022, the Yemen Press Agency reported on the expulsion and forced evictions at gun point of residents from their villages on the island of Abd Al kuri in the socotra archipelago.

The sources added that the recent displacement came after construction work began to build a military base, which is speculated to host joint UAE and Israeli forces stationed in the archipelago.