Gulf of Aqaba
The Gulf of Aqaba (Arabic: خَلِيج الْعَقَبَة, romanized: Khalīj al-ʿAqaba) or Gulf of Eilat (Hebrew: מפרץ אילת, romanized: Mifrátz 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.
Gulf of Aqaba
Gulf
Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia
160 km (99 mi)
24 km (15 mi)
239 km2 (92 sq mi)
1,850 m (6,070 ft)
Geology[edit]
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]
Fauna[edit]
In general, the fauna in the Red Sea represents the fauna in the waters of the Indian Ocean, except that many species cannot penetrate it due to salinity and temperature limitations and some are only found in the southern part of the Red Sea. A large part of the species in the Red Sea are endemic and the proportion of several groups reaches about 30%. It is possible that some of them developed during 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]
Red Sea coral and marine fish
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 Wadi Rum to the east of the northern edge of the gulf is a popular destination. Other destinations are the ruins of the iron-age civilization of Ayla in the city of Aqaba, the site of the World War I Battle of Aqaba, led by Lawrence of Arabia.
Whales, orcas, dolphins, dugongs, and whale sharks live in the gulf as well.[5][6]