Red Sea

Red Sea, narrow, inland sea, separating the Arabian peninsula, western Asia, from north-eastern Africa. It extends north-west from the strait of Bab el Mandeb to Suez, Egypt, for a distance of about 2,253 km (1,400 mi). The maximum depth of the sea is about 3,040 m (9,975 ft), and its maximum width is about 355 km (220 mi). The northern extremity is divided by the Sinai Peninsula into the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba. The Suez Canal connects the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea, carrying much of the traffic between Europe and Asia, and making it one of the world’s busiest waterways. Bab el Mandeb strait connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, an arm of the Arabian Sea.

Navigation is made difficult along the Red Sea by the coral reefs, strong winds, irregular currents, and the narrow channel at the strait of Bab el Mandeb, which must be kept open by blasting and dredging. High cliffs rise behind narrow coastal plains along both banks of the sea, which is one of the world’s saltiest.

The Red Sea occupies a portion of a zone of depression and faulting called the Rift Valley. For more than 50 million years, the Earth's crust has been tearing apart all along this zone. The Red Sea formed when the Arabian Peninsula was torn from Africa, 20 million years ago. Hydrothermal vents on the seafloor are evidence of ongoing tectonic activity.

The traditional site of the safe passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea as recorded in Exodus is in the upper reaches of the Gulf of Suez. In the centuries following the downfall of the Roman Empire, the sea served the Muslim world as a major artery of communication and trade with eastern Africa, Persia (now Iran), and East Asia. To European nations, however, the sea was of minor commercial importance until the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, making possible a comparatively direct sea route between Europe and East Asia. The principal Red Sea ports include Suez and El-Qusayr in Egypt, Port Sudan and Suakin in Sudan, Mitsiwa in Eritrea, Jiddah in Saudi Arabia, and Al Ḩudaydah and Mocha (Al Makhā) in Yemen.