Red Sea

Introduction

EGYPT - Little Creature

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The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia.

Geography

The Red Sea's connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez (leading to the Suez Canal). The Red Sea is a Global 200 ecoregion. The sea is underlain by the Red Sea Rift which is part of the Great Rift Valley.

The Red Sea has a surface area of roughly 438,000 km² and is about 2,250 kilometres long and, at its widest point, 355 kilometres wide. It has a maximum depth of 2,211 metres and an average depth of 490 metres. However, there are also extensive shallow shelves, noted for their marine life and corals. The sea is the habitat of over 1,000 invertebrate species, and 200 soft and hard corals. It is the world's northernmost tropical sea.

Countries

• Djibouti
• Egypt
• Eritrea
• Israel
• Jordan
• Saudi Arabia
• Sudan
• Yemen

External Links