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Red sea
*** Shopping-Tip: Red sea
:''This article is about the body of water. For other meanings see
Red Sea (disambiguation).''
Image:Red Sea.png thumb|256px|Location of the Red Sea
The '''Red Sea''' (
Arabic language Arabic '''البØر الأØمر''' '''al-Bahr al-Ahmar''';
Hebrew language Hebrew '''×™×? סוף''' '''Yam Suf''';
Tigrigna language Tigrigna ቀá‹áˆ• ባሕሪ '''QeyH baHri''') is a
gulf or basin of the
Indian Ocean between
Africa and
Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the
Bab el Mandeb sound and the
Gulf of Aden. In the north is the
Sinai Peninsula, the
Gulf of Aqaba and the
Gulf of Suez (leading to the
Suez Canal). The sea is roughly 1,200
miles (1,900 km) long and at its widest is over 190 miles (300
kilometre km). The sea floor has a maximum depth of 8,200
foot (unit of length) feet (2,500 m) in the central median trench and an average depth of 1,640 feet (500 m), but it also has extensive shallow shelves, noted for their marine life and
corals. The sea has a surface area of roughly 174,000
square miles (450,000
square kilometre km²). The sea is the habitat of over 1,000
invertebrate species and 200 soft and hard corals. The sea occupies a part of the
Great Rift Valley. The Red Sea is
the world's most northern tropical sea.
Name
The sea was called the "Arabian Gulf" in most European sources up to the 20th century. This was derived from older Greek sources.
Herodotus,
Straban and
Ptolemy all call the waterway "Arabicus Sinus", while reserving the term "Sea of Erythrias" (Red Sea) for the waters around the southern
Arabian Peninsula, now known as
Indian Ocean.
The name of the sea does not indicate the colour of the water. It may signify the seasonal blooms of the red-coloured
cyanobacteria ''
Trichodesmium erythraeum'' near the water surface. Some suggest that it refers to the
mineral-rich red
mountains nearby which are called "הרי ×?דו×?" (''harei edom''). Edom, meaning "ruddy complexion", is also an alternative
Hebrew language Hebrew name for the red-faced biblical character
Esau (brother of
Jacob), and the nation descended from him, the
Edomites, which in turn provides yet another possible origin for ''Red Sea''.
There is also speculation that the name Red Sea came from a mistranslation of what should have been the Reed Sea in the
Bible Biblical story of
the Exodus. The
Sea of Reeds (in
Hebrew language Hebrew ''Yâm-Sûph'') is often mistranslated as the "Red Sea".
One hypothesis is the name comes from the
Himarites, a local group whose own name means "red." Another theory favored by some modern scholars is the name "red" is referring to the direction "south," the same way the
Black Sea's name may refer to "north." The basis of this theory is that some Asiatic languages used color words to refer to points on the compass.
History
The Egyptians were the first to attempt a mission of exploration in the Red Sea. However, it was a Greek sailor,
Hippalus, who conferred an international dimension upon the Red Sea in his manifesto on the voyage of the
Eritrea Sea and thus opened it up to an immense and exclusive trade with
Asia. It was only from the 15th century onwards that
Europe began to show interest in this area. In 1798,
France charged General
Bonaparte with invading Egypt and capturing the Red Sea. Although he failed in his mission, the engineer J.B.
Lepere, who took part in it revitalised the plan for a canal which had been envisaged during the reign of the
Pharaohs. The Suez Canal was opened in November 1869. At the time, the British, French, and Italians shared the trading posts. The
European Empire was gradually dismantled following the
First World War. After the
Second World War, the Americans and Soviets exerted their influence whilst the volume of oil tanker traffic intensified. However, the
Six Day War culminated in the closure of the
Suez Canal from 1967 to 1975. Still today, in spite of patrols by the major maritime fleets in the waters of the Red Sea, the
Suez Canal has never recovered its supremacy over the Cape route, which is believed to be less vulnerable.
Physical properties
Image:Dust red sea.jpg thumb|300px|Dust storm over the Red Sea
Surface water temperatures remain relatively constant at 70-77
Fahrenheit °F (21-25
celsius °C) and temperature and visibility remain good to around 660 feet (200 m), but the sea is known for its strong winds and tricky local currents. The sea was created by the division of Africa from the
Arabia Arabian peninsula, a movement which began around 30 million years ago. The sea is still widening and there are small
volcano volcanic features in the deeper parts, it is considered that the sea will become an ocean in time (as proposed in the model of
Tuzo Wilson).
Sometimes during the
Tertiary period the
Bab el Mandeb was closed and the Red Sea was an empty hot dry salt-floored sink.
Tourism
The sea is known for its spectacular
Scuba diving dive diving locations sites such as
Ras Mohammed,
SS Thistlegorm (ship wreck),
Elphinstone, Egypt Elphinstone, Eilat,
The Brothers, Egypt The Brothers and
Rocky Island in
Egypt, and less known sites in
Sudan such as
Sanganeb,
Abington, Sudan Abington,
Angarosh and
Shaab Rumi (see photo above).
The Red Sea was "discovered" as a diving destination by
Hans Hass in the 1950s, and by
Jacques-Yves Cousteau later. Popular tourist resorts include
Sharm-El-Sheikh and
Hurghada in
Egypt, in an area known as the
Red Sea Riviera.
Bordering countries
Bordering countries are:
* Northern shore:
**
Egypt
**
Israel
**
Jordan
* Western shore:
**
Sudan
** Egypt
* Eastern shore:
**
Saudi Arabia
**
Yemen
* Southern shore:
**
Somalia
**
Djibouti
**
Eritrea
Towns and cities
Towns and cities on the Red Sea coast include:
Assab ዓሳብ,
Massawa �ጽዋ,
Hala'ib Øلايب ,
Marsa Alamمرسى علم ,
Port Sudan بورت سودان ,
Port Safaga ميناء سÙ?اجا ,
Hurghada الغردقة ,
Suez El Suweis السويس ,
Sharm el Sheikh شرم الشيخ ,
Dahabدهب ,
Eilat ×?ילת ,
Aqaba العقبة ,
Jeddahجدة ,
Al Hudaydah الØديدة.
See also
*
Red Sea Riviera
*
Suez Canal
*
Passage of the Red Sea
* ''
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea''
*
M/V al-Salam Boccaccio 98 ferry disaster
{{Commons|Red Sea}}
Category:Geography of Egypt
Category:Geography of Israel
Category:Great Rift Valley
Category:Indian Ocean
Category:Marine ecoregions
Category:Seas
Category:Geography of Africa
Category:Dive sites
ar:بØر Ø£Øمر
ast:Mar Bermeya
zh-min-nan:Âng-hái
bs:Crveno more
br:Mor ruz
bg:Червено море
ca:Mar Roja
cv:Хĕрлĕ тинĕÑ?
cs:Rudé moře
da:Røde Hav
de:Rotes Meer
et:Punane meri
el:ΕÏ?υθÏ?ά θάλασσα
es:Mar Rojo
eo:RuÄ?a Maro
eu:Itsaso Gorria
fr:Mer Rouge
gl:Mar Vermello
ko:í™?í•´
hr:Crveno more
id:Laut Merah
is:Rauðahaf
he:×™×? סוף
sw:Bahari ya Shamu
lt:Raudonoji jūra
nl:Rode Zee
ja:ç´…æµ·
no:Rødehavet
nn:Raudehavet
pl:Morze Czerwone
pt:Mar Vermelho
ru:КраÑ?ное море
scn:Mari Russu
simple:Red Sea
sk:Červené more
sl:RdeÄ?e morje
sr:Црвено море
sh:Crveno more
fi:Punainenmeri
sv:Röda havet
th:ทะเล�ดง
vi:Hồng Hải
tr:Kızıldeniz
uk:Червоне море
zh:红海
see
Red Sea
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