Red Sea, ancient Sinus
Arabicus or Erythraean Sea, narrow sea,
c.170,000 sq mi (440,300 sq km), c.1,450 mi (2,330 km) long and up to 225 mi
(362 km) wide, between Africa (Egypt, Sudan, and Eritrea) and the Arabian
peninsula (Saudi Arabia and Yemen); a part of the Great Rift Valley. The Gulf of Aqaba
and the Gulf of Suez are the sea's northern arms; between them is the Sinai
peninsula. The Red Sea is linked with the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea
by the straits of Bab el Mandeb.
The flat coastal plains of the Red Sea slope gradually to the submarine
central trough, more than 7,000 ft (2,134 m) deep. The sea is dotted with
islands (the largest group is the Dahlak Archipelago in the southwest)
and with dangerous coral reefs. It is surrounded by exceedingly hot and dry
deserts and steppes; the summer water temperature exceeds 85℉
(29℃), and the water has a high salt content. The Red Sea was an
important trade route in antiquity. Its importance declined with the
discovery of an all-water route around Africa in 1498. The opening of the
Suez Canal in
1869 made the Red Sea one of the chief shipping routes connecting Europe
with East Asia and Australia. The closing of the canal after the 1967
Arab-Israeli War, the building of pipelines to the Mediterranean Sea, and
the construction of supertankers too large for the canal diminished the
sea's importance as a commercial artery, especially for petroleum. In 1975,
however, the canal was reopened and enlarged, and traffic through the sea
increased. Suez, Egypt; Elat, Israel; Jidda, Saudi Arabia; Hodeida, Yemen;
Massawa, Eritrea; and Port Sudan, Sudan, are the main ports on the Red Sea
and its northern arms. In late 2023, shipping in the S Red Sea, Bab el
Mandeb strait, and Gulf of Aden was disrupted when Houthi rebels in Yemen
began firing rockets and drones toward commercial ships in the area, in
support of Palestinians in Gaza engaged in renewed conflict with Israel
following the Hamas attack into S Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
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