View source for Gulf of Aqaba

{{Short description|Large gulf at the northern tip of the Red Sea}}
{{pp-pc|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox body of water
| name               = Gulf of Aqaba
| native_name        = {{native name list |tag1=ar|name1=خَلِيج الْعَقَبَة |tag2=he|name2=מפרץ אילת}}
| other_name         = Gulf of Eilat
| image              = Gulf of Suez map.jpg
| caption            = The [[Sinai Peninsula]] with the Gulf of Aqaba to the east and the [[Gulf of Suez]] to the west
| image_bathymetry   = 
| caption_bathymetry = 
| location           = [[West Asia]]
| coords             = {{Coord|28|45|N|34|45|E|type:waterbody_scale:1000000|display=title,inline}}|pushpin_map=Egypt
| type               = Gulf
| inflow             = [[Red Sea]]
| outflow            = 
| catchment          = 
| basin_countries    = Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia
| length             = {{convert|160|km|abbr=on}}
| width              = {{convert|24|km|abbr=on}}
| area               = {{cvt|239|km2}}
| depth              = 
| max-depth          = {{convert|1850|m|abbr=on}}
| cities             = [[Aqaba]], [[Eilat]], [[Taba, Egypt|Taba]], [[Haql]], [[Sharm El Sheikh]]
}}

The '''Gulf of Aqaba''' ({{langx|ar|خَلِيج الْعَقَبَة|Khalīj al-ʿAqaba}}) or '''Gulf of Eilat''' ({{langx|he|מפרץ אילת|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]].

== Name ==
[[File:Mt. Acabe.jpg|thumb|Mt. Acabe (red arrow) in Egypt, namesake or cognate of the Gulf of Aqaba, as shown in Nicolaus Germanus' 1467 edition of Ptolemy's Geography (150 A.D.).]]
The name Aqaba is as old as 150 A.D. (or somewhat later, if added by a subsequent editor), as evidenced by the plotting of a Mt. Acabe ('Ακάβη όρος) in [[Geography (Ptolemy)|Ptolemy's Geography]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ptolemaeus |first1=Claudius |title=Geographia |date=1843 |publisher=Karl Friedrich August Nobbe |location=Leipzig |page=vol. 1, p. 252 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Claudii_Ptolemaei_Geographia/4gYkx8EFgBcC?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=%CE%BF%CE%BC%CE%B1%CF%84%CE%B1 |access-date=24 September 2025}}</ref> which mountain is shown directly across from the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba, on the western coast of the Red Sea, probably somewhere in the vicinity of modern [[Hurghada]], Egypt, and ancient [[Mons Claudianus]], both of which placenames could also themselves be derived [[cognate]] forms of the word Aqaba, the former by morphological drift, the latter as a translation into [[Latin]], wherein "Claudianus" also suggests limping or stumbling,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lewis and Short |title=A Latin Dictionary |date=1879 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |page=C.53.claudeo |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DC%3Aentry+group%3D53%3Aentry%3Dclaudeo |access-date=24 September 2025}}</ref> a perfect semantic overlap for the literal Arabic meaning of "Aqaba" ({{lang|ar|عقبة }}), as an "obstacle," "stumbling block," or "spine."  Thus the Gulf of Aqaba may've in turn gotten its name from this older region, west of it, around Mt. Acabe (not necessarily a single identifiable mountain), construed as the rough spine of highland that must be crossed, to pass through the natural trade corridor there, from the Upper [[Nile]] to the [[Red Sea]], along modern Egyptian Highway 60.  

==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 {{convert|1850|m|ft}} in its central area: the Gulf of Suez is significantly wider but less than {{convert|100|m|ft|abbr=on}} deep.
[[File:Gulf of Suez from orbit 2007.JPG|thumb|The Sinai Peninsula separating the Gulf of Suez to the west and the Gulf of Aqaba, to the east.]]
[[File:Sinai, Egypt, Canyon through the mountains.jpg|thumb|View of the Gulf of Aqaba near Nuweiba, Egypt.]]

The gulf measures {{convert|24|km|mi|abbr=on}} at its widest point and stretches some {{convert|160|km|mi|-1|abbr=on}} north from the [[Straits of Tiran]] to where Israel meets Egypt and Jordan.

[[File:Aqaba3.jpg|thumb|upright|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 and Commercial Significance===

At this northern end of the gulf are three important cities: [[Taba (Egypt)|Taba]] in Egypt, [[Eilat]] in Israel, and [[Aqaba]] in Jordan. As the only point of access to the [[Red Sea]] for the Israel and Jordan, the gulf has held and continues to hold commercial and strategic importance especially.  In the case of the Israel, these few kilometers' access to the gulf were included in the original (never implemented) [[United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine|1947 UN Palestine Partition Plan]] and became crucially important for trade during times of hostility with its neighbors (e.g. when Egypt closed access to the [[Suez Canal]]),  while Jordan's {{convert|26|km|mi}} shoreline on the gulf is the only part of Jordan's borders preventing it from being completely landlocked. The gulf also is home to popular resorts for tourists seeking to enjoy the warm climate.  

Further south, [[Haql]] is the largest Saudi Arabian city on the gulf.  On Sinai, [[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]] ({{coord|27|57|N|34|36|E}}) through [[Tiran Island]] to the Southwest point thereof and thence Westward on a parallel (27°54'N) to the coast of the Sinaï Peninsula".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://iho.int/uploads/user/pubs/standards/s-23/S-23_Ed3_1953_EN.pdf|title=Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd edition|year=1953|publisher=International Hydrographic Organization|access-date=28 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008191433/http://www.iho-ohi.net/iho_pubs/standard/S-23/S23_1953.pdf|archive-date=8 October 2011}}</ref>

==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 basin]]s, the Elat Deep, Aragonese Deep and Dakar Deep, formed between four left lateral [[Fault (geology)#Strike-slip faults|strike-slip fault]] segments. Movement on one of these faults caused the [[1995 Gulf of Aqaba earthquake]].<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Active Faulting in the Gulf of Aqaba: New Knowledge from the Mw 7.3 Earthquake of 22 November 1995|url=http://www.ipgp.fr/~klinger/page_web/biblio/publication/klinger_BSSA99.pdf|first1=Yann|last1=Klinger|first2=Luis|last2=Rivera|first3=Henri|last3=Haessler|first4=Jean-Christophe|last4=Maurin|journal=Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America|publisher=[[Seismological Society of America]]|volume=89|pages=1025–1036|date=August 1999|issue=4|doi=10.1785/BSSA0890041025|bibcode=1999BuSSA..89.1025K|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125020244/http://www.ipgp.fr/~klinger/page_web/biblio/publication/klinger_BSSA99.pdf|archive-date=25 January 2014|access-date=23 February 2013}}</ref>

==Ecology==
{{Further|Red Sea#Ecosystem}}
==History==
[[File:Isle of Graia (crop).jpg|thumb|"[[Pharaoh's Island|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 (painter)|David Roberts]].]]

Trade across the Red Sea between [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]]' port of [[Elim (place)|Elim]] and [[Elath]] at the head of the gulf is documented as early as the [[Fourth Dynasty of Egypt]]. Expeditions crossing the [[Red Sea]] and heading south to [[Land of Punt|Punt]] are mentioned in the [[Fifth dynasty of Egypt|fifth]], the [[Sixth dynasty of Egypt|sixth]], the [[Eleventh dynasty of Egypt|eleventh]], the [[Twelfth dynasty of Egypt|twelfth]] and the [[Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt|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|reason=Feb 2009|date=February 2009}}
Thebes used [[Nubia]]n gold or Nub from her conquests south into [[Kingdom of Kush|Kush]] to facilitate the purchase of [[frankincense]], [[myrrh]], [[bitumen]], [[natron]], juniper oil, [[linen]], and [[copper]] amulets for the [[mummy|mummification]] industry at [[Karnak]]. Egyptian settlements near [[Timna]] at the head of the gulf date to the [[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 (ancient)|King's Highway]] at Aqaba and connected Africa to Asia and the Levant and [[Red Sea]] shipping.

Aqaba was a major [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] port, connected to [[Damascus]] and [[Medina]] by the [[Hejaz railway]].  During World War I, the [[Battle of Aqaba]] was the key battle that ended a 500-year Ottoman rule over the [[Syria (region)|region of Syria]].{{fact|date=June 2022}}

== Fauna ==
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 Aqaba and therefore thrive there more than the oceanic species.<ref>[[:he:מדריך ישראל|מדריך ישראל]], סיני וחבל עזה, [[:he:הוצאת כתר|הוצאת כתר]] ו[[:he:משרד הביטחון – ההוצאה לאור|משרד הביטחון – ההוצאה לאור]], 1979, עמ' 124–126, 165–157, 239-185</ref>

==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&nbsp;km coastline, and diving represents 10% of the tourism income of this area.<ref>Artificial Reefs and Dive Tourism in Eilat, Israel. Dan Wilhelmsson, Marcus C. Öhman, Henrik Ståhl and Yechiam Shlesinger. Ambio, Vol. 27, No. 8, Building Capacity for Coastal Management (Dec., 1998), pp. 764-766 Published by: Allen Press on behalf of Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences {{cite journal |jstor=4314831 |title=Artificial Reefs and Dive Tourism in Eilat, Israel |last1=Wilhelmsson |first1=Dan |last2=Öhman |first2=Marcus C. |last3=Ståhl |first3=Henrik |last4=Shlesinger |first4=Yechiam |journal=Ambio |year=1998 |volume=27 |issue=8 |pages=764–766 }}. the [[United Nations Environment Programme]]. Retrieved on 17 December. 2014</ref>

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]].

[[Whale]]s, [[orca]]s, [[dolphin]]s, [[dugong]]s, and [[whale shark]]s live in the gulf as well.<ref>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.</ref><ref>{{Cite web | title = Dugongs in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden | work = unep.ch | url = http://unep.ch/regionalseas/main/persga/rednasr.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160128132736/http://www.unep.ch/regionalseas/main/persga/rednasr.html | archive-date = 2016-01-28 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

<gallery widths="180px" heights="120px">
File:The Underwater Observatory in Eilat.jpg|[[Coral World Underwater Observatory]] at [[Eilat]]
File:Hilton hotel taba egypt.jpg|[[Taba, Egypt|Taba]] beach
File:Sea goldies swimming next to a coral, the Red Sea, Gulf of Eilat, Israel..jpg|Red Sea coral and marine fish
File:Gulf of Eilat.jpg|A resort near [[Eilat's Coral Beach]]
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Div col|small=yes}}
*[[Al Jawf Region]]/[[Tabuk Region]]
*[[Aqaba Governorate]]
*[[Israeli Diving Federation]]
*[[South Sinai Governorate]]
*[[Tourism in Egypt]]
*[[Tourism in Israel]]
*[[Tourism in Jordan]]
*[[Bountiful (Book of Mormon)#Wadi Sayq/Khor Kharfot|Wadi Sayq/Khor Kharfot]]
{{Div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace%20Process/Regional%20Projects/Gulf%20of%20Aqaba-%20Environment The Red Sea Marine Peace Park] page on [[Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel|Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] – a joint Israel-Jordan initiative

{{Former Israeli settlements in the Sinai}}
{{List of seas}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Bodies of water of the Red Sea]]
[[Category:Gulfs of the Indian Ocean|Aqaba]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Egypt]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Israel]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Jordan]]
[[Category:Gulfs of Saudi Arabia]]
[[Category:Aqaba]]
[[Category:Great Rift Valley]]
[[Category:South Sinai Governorate]]
[[Category:Jordan–Saudi Arabia border]]
[[Category:Israel–Jordan border]]
[[Category:Egypt–Israel border]]
[[Category:Gulfs of Asia|Aqaba]]