Gulf of Aqaba

Coordinates: 28°45′N 34°45′E / 28.750°N 34.750°E / 28.750; 34.750
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Gulf of Aqaba
Gulf of Eilat
  • خَلِيج الْعَقَبَة (
    Primary inflows
Red Sea
Basin countriesEgypt, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia
Max. length160 km (99 mi)
Max. width24 km (15 mi)
Surface area239 km2 (92 sq mi)
Max. depth1,850 m (6,070 ft)
SettlementsAqaba, Eilat, Taba, Haql, Sharm El Sheikh

The Gulf of Aqaba (

Arabic: خَلِيج الْعَقَبَة, romanizedKhalīj al-ʿAqaba) or Gulf of Eilat (Hebrew: מפרץ אילת, romanizedMifrátz Eilát) is a large gulf at the northern tip of the Red Sea, east of the Sinai Peninsula and west of the Arabian Peninsula. Its coastline is divided among four countries: Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The northernmost coral reef in the world is situated near the Eilat
shore.

Geography

The gulf is east of the Sinai Peninsula and west of the Arabian Peninsula. With the Gulf of Suez to the west, it extends from the northern portion of the Red Sea. It reaches a maximum depth of 1,850 metres (6,070 ft) in its central area: the Gulf of Suez is significantly wider but less than 100 m (330 ft) deep.

The Sinai Peninsula separating the Gulf of Suez to the west and the Gulf of Aqaba, to the east.
View of the Gulf of Aqaba near Nuweiba, Egypt.

The gulf measures 24 km (15 mi) at its widest point and stretches some 160 km (100 mi) north from the Straits of Tiran to where Israel meets Egypt and Jordan.

The city of Aqaba is the largest on the gulf

Like the coastal waters of the Red Sea, the gulf is one of the world's premier sites for diving. The area is especially rich in coral and other marine biodiversity and has both accidental shipwrecks and vessels deliberately sunk in an effort to provide a habitat for marine organisms and bolster the local dive tourism industry.

Cities

At this northern end of the gulf are three important cities:

Sharm el-Sheikh and Dahab
are the major centres.

The largest population center is Aqaba, with a population of 148,398 (2015), followed by Eilat with a population of 50,724 (2020).

Extent

The International Hydrographic Organization defines the southern limit of the gulf as "A line running from Ràs al Fasma Southwesterly to Requin Island (27°57′N 34°36′E / 27.950°N 34.600°E / 27.950; 34.600) through Tiran Island to the Southwest point thereof and thence Westward on a parallel (27°54'N) to the coast of the Sinaï Peninsula".[1]

Geology

The gulf is one of two gulfs created by the Sinai Peninsula's bifurcation of the northern Red Sea, the Gulf of Suez lying to the west of the peninsula and the Gulf of Aqaba to its east. Geologically, the gulf forms the southern end of the Dead Sea Transform. It contains three small pull-apart basins, the Elat Deep, Aragonese Deep and Dakar Deep, formed between four left lateral strike-slip fault segments. Movement on one of these faults caused the 1995 Gulf of Aqaba earthquake.[2]

Ecology

History

"Isle of Graia Gulf of Akabah Arabia Petraea", 1839 lithograph of a trade caravan in The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia, by Louis Haghe from an original by David Roberts.

Trade across the Red Sea between Thebes' port of

eighteenth dynasties of Egypt, when Hatshepsut built a fleet to support the trade and journeyed south to Punt in a six-month voyage.[citation needed
] Thebes used
Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt
.

At the northern edge, the ancient city of Ayla (in present-day Aqaba) was a commercial hub for the

Nabateans. The Romans built the Via Traiana Nova, which joined the King's Highway at Aqaba and connected Africa to Asia and the Levant and Red Sea
shipping.

Aqaba was a major

]

Fauna

In general, the

Tethys Sea period. The endemic species are more suitable to the conditions in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Eilat and therefore thrive there more than the oceanic species.[3]

Tourism

The gulf is one of the most popular diving destinations in the world. About 250,000 dives are performed annually in Eilat's 11 km coastline, and diving represents 10% of the tourism income of this area.[4]

The Landscape of

Lawrence of Arabia
.

Whales, orcas, dolphins, dugongs, and whale sharks live in the gulf as well.[5][6]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd edition" (PDF). International Hydrographic Organization. 1953. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  2. (PDF) on 25 January 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  3. ^ מדריך ישראל, סיני וחבל עזה, הוצאת כתר ומשרד הביטחון – ההוצאה לאור, 1979, עמ' 124–126, 165-157, 239-185
  4. . Retrieved on 17 December. 2014
  5. ^ Sciara di N.G., Smeenk C., Rudolph P., Addink M., Baldwin R., Cesario A., Costa M., Feingold D., Fumagalli M., Kerem D., Goffman O., Elasar M., Scheinin A., Hadar N.. 2014. Summary review of cetaceans of the Red Sea.
  6. ^ "Dugongs in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden". unep.ch. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016.

External links