Red Sea
The Red Sea (Arabic: Bahr el-Ahmar or al-bahru l-'ahmar; Hebrew: Yam Suf) 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 1900 km long and at its widest is over 300 km. The sea floor has a maximum depth of 2,500 m in the central median trench and an average depth of 500 m, but it also has extensive shallow shelves, noted for their marine life and corals. The sea has a surface area of roughly 438,000 or 450,000 km². The sea is the habitat of over 1000 invertebrate species and 200 soft and hard corals, of the many vertebrate species there are over 300 types of shark. The sea occupies a part of the Great Rift Valley.
Name
The name of the sea does not indicate a real red colour, as the seawater is actually blue when viewed afar, and transparent when held in hand. 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.
Physical Properties
Surface water temperatures remain relatively constant at 21-25°C and temperature and visibility remain good to around 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 Arabian penninsula, a movement which began around 30 million years ago. The sea is still widening and there are small 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).
Tourism
The sea is a popular tourist destination and is known for a number of spectacular dive sites in Egypt: like Ras Mohammed, Elphinstone, The Brothers, Rocky Island and the even better and more unknown in Sudan like Sanganeb, Abington, Angarosh, Shaab Rumi (see picture above).
Bordering Countries
Bordering countries are:
Towns and Cities
Towns and cities on the Red Sea coast include: Assab, Port Sudan, Port Safaga,
Hurghada, El Suweis, Sharm el Sheikh, Eilat, Aqaba, Dahab, Jedda, Al Hudaydah.
The Red Sea was 'discovered' as a diving destination by Hans Hass in the 1950s, and by Jacques-Yves Cousteau later.
Referenced By
'Karin A' | 1380 BC | 1380s BC | 1381 BC | 1382 BC | 1383 BC | 1384 BC | 1385 BC | 1386 BC | 1387 BC | 1388 BC | 1389 BC | 17 November | 17th November | 1869 | 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea | 20000 Leagues Under the Sea (novel) | 20000 Leagues Under the Seas | 2003 Iraq war timeline | 2003 invasion of Iraq timeline | 2004 | 2004 AD | 3 January | 3rd January | 5th Fleet | Ababda | Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta | Afonso da Albuquerque | Afonso de Albuquerque | Africa/Geography | Africa/History | African History | African Rift Valley | Agatharchides | Ahaziah of Israel | Al Bahr al Ahmar | Al Islam | Aleppo | Alfonso d'Albuquerque | Alfonso de Albuquerque | Alphonso D Albuquerque | Alush | Amalric I | Amalric I of Jerusalem | Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie | Antoine Thomson dAbbadie | Ar Riyad | Arabia | Arabian Common Dolphin | Arabian Peninsula | Arabic Peninsula | As of 2004 | As of January 2004 | As of November 2003 | Bab-el-Mandeb | Bab el Mandeb | Baldwin I of Edessa | Baldwin I of Jerusalem | Baldwin of Boulogne | Baptism | Baptized | Baudouin of Antioch | Berenice | Blue Shark | Carnatic shipwreck | Charm el-Cheikh | Cheng-ho | Chirocentridae | Common Dolphin | Darius Hystaspes | Darius Hystaspis | Darius I | Darius I of Perisa | Darius I of Persia | Darius I the Great | Darius the Great | Dead Sea | Demographics of Eritrea | Demographics of Saudi Arabia | Diving locations | Djibouti | Djibouti/Geography | Djibouti/History | Djibuti | East Africa Rift | Egypt/Transportation | Egypt under Mehemet Ali and his successors | Eilat | Elat | Elat, Israel | Eritrea | Eritrea/Geography | Eritrea/History | Eritrea/People | Eritrean Railway | Ethiopia/Geography | Ethiopia/History | Explorer | Explorers | False Killer Whale ...
|
