Red Sea

Coral in the Red Sea is under threat. The sea is a major shipping lane and has several popular tourist centres along its shores. Potentially, the pollution emitted could do serious damage to the coral that lines the coasts. This is particularly disturbing, since one theory regarding the origin of the name ‘Red Sea’ suggests the existence of an important symbiotic relationship between algae and the endangered coral.

Branch of the Indian Ocean, formed from a submerged (and still gradually widening) section of the Great Rift Valley, extending northwest from the Gulf of Aden. It is 2,000 km/1,200 mi long and up to 320 km/200 mi wide, reaching depths of over 2,300 m/7,545 ft. Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Eritrea (in Africa) and Saudi Arabia (Asia) are on its shores. At its northern end, it divides into the gulfs of Suez and Aqaba, separated by the Sinai peninsula. No rivers flow into the Red Sea; in addition to high temperatures, this results in very high levels of salinity and other dissolved salts.

Lying to the south of the Suez Canal, the Red Sea is a major highway for shipping, linking Western Europe and Mediterranean countries with the Middle East, East Africa, and East Asia. The principal harbours are Jiddah in Saudi Arabia (the port for Mecca), Elat in Israel on the Gulf of Aqaba, and Suez, Port Sudan, and Massowa on the African coast.