The Bab-el-Mandeb (
Arabic: , , ) is a
strait between
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
on the
Arabian Peninsula, and
Djibouti and
Eritrea in the
Horn of Africa. It connects the
Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...
to the
Gulf of Aden.
Name
The strait derives its name from the dangers attending its navigation or, according to an Arab legend, from the numbers who were drowned by an earthquake that separated the
Arabian Peninsula from the
Horn of Africa.
In "Bab-el-Mandeb", "Bab" refers to "gate" while "Mandeb" refers to "lamentation".
Geography
The Bab-el-Mandeb acts as a strategic link between the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...
and the
Mediterranean Sea via the Red Sea and the
Suez Canal. In 2006, an estimated of oil passed through the strait per day, out of a world total of about moved by
tankers.
[World Oil Transit Chokepoints](_blank)
, Energy Information Administration, US Department of Energy
The distance across is about from
Ras Menheli in Yemen to
Ras Siyyan in Djibouti. The island of
Perim divides the strait into two channels, of which the eastern, known as the
Bab Iskender (Alexander's Strait), is wide and deep, while the western, or
Dact-el-Mayun, has a width of about and a depth of . Near the coast of Djibouti lies a group of smaller islands known as the "
Seven Brothers". There is a surface current inwards in the eastern channel, but a strong undercurrent outwards in the western channel.
History
Paleo-environmental and
tectonic events in the
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...
epoch created the Danakil Isthmus, a land bridge forming a broad connection between Yemen and Ethiopia. During the last 100,000 years, eustatic
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...
fluctuations have led to alternate opening and closing of the straits. According to the
recent single origin hypothesis, the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb were probably witness to the earliest migrations of
modern humans. It is presumed that the oceans were then much lower and the straits were much shallower or dry, which allowed a series of emigrations along the southern coast of Asia.
According to
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church tradition, the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb were witness to the earliest migrations of Semitic
Ge'ez speakers into Africa, occurring BC, roughly around the same time as the Hebrew patriarch
Jacob. The
Kingdom of Aksum was a major regional power in the
Horn of Africa. It extended its rule across the strait with the conquest of the
Himyarite Kingdom
The Himyarite Kingdom ( ar, مملكة حِمْيَر, Mamlakat Ḥimyar, he, ממלכת חִמְיָר), or Himyar ( ar, حِمْيَر, ''Ḥimyar'', / 𐩹𐩧𐩺𐩵𐩬) (fl. 110 BCE–520s CE), historically referred to as the Homerit ...
shortly before the
rise of Islam.
The
British East India Company unilaterally seized the island of
Perim in 1799 on behalf of its
Indian empire
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
. The government of
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
asserted its ownership in 1857 and erected a lighthouse there in 1861, using it to command the
Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...
and the trade routes through the Suez Canal.
It was used as a coaling station to refuel steamships until 1935 when the reduced use of coal as fuel rendered the operation unprofitable.
[Gavin, p. 291.]
The British presence continued until 1967 when the island became part of the
People's Republic of South Yemen. Before the handover, the British government had put forward before the United Nations a proposal for the island to be internationalized
[Hakim, pp. 17-18.] as a way to ensure the continued security of passage and navigation in the Bab-el-Mandeb, but this was refused.
In 2008 a company owned by
Tarek bin Laden unveiled plans to build a bridge named
Bridge of the Horns across the strait, linking
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
with
Djibouti. Middle East Development LLC issued a notice to construct a bridge passing across the Red Sea that would be the longest suspended passing in the world.
The project was assigned to engineering company
COWI COWI A/S is an international consulting group, specialising in engineering, environmental science and economics, with headquarters in Lyngby, Denmark.
It has been involved in more than 50,000 projects in 175 countries and has approximately 7,300 em ...
in collaboration with architect studio
Dissing+Weitling
Dissing may refer to:
* Diss (music), song primarily intended to disrespect people
* Dissing+Weitling, architecture and design practice in Copenhagen, Denmark
*Heino Dissing (1912–1990), Danish cyclist
*Henry Dissing (1931–2009), Danish mycolo ...
, both from Denmark. It was announced in 2010 that Phase 1 had been delayed; however, as of mid-2016, nothing more has been heard about the project.
Sub-region
The Bab-el-Mandeb is also a
sub-region
A subregion is a part of a larger region or continent and is usually based on location. Cardinal directions, such as south are commonly used to define a subregion.
United Nations subregions
The Statistics Division of the United Nations (U ...
in the
Arab League, which includes Djibouti, Yemen, and Eritrea.
Demographics
Population centers
The most significant towns and cities along both the Djiboutian and Yemeni sides of the Bab-el-Mandeb:
Djibouti
*
Khôr ‘Angar
*
Moulhoule
*
Fagal
Yemen
*
At Turbah At Turbah (alternatively, Turbat Dhubhan) is a town near the coast of the Red Sea in Taiz Governorate, Yemen. It lies about 75 km from Taiz and is about 1,800 metres above sea level. Its population in 2004 was 10,505.
Etymology & History
The ...
*
Cheikh Saïd
See also
*
Bridge of the Horns
Strait:
*
Red Sea Dam
Region:
*
Horn of Africa
*
Mashriq
The Mashriq ( ar, ٱلْمَشْرِق), sometimes spelled Mashreq or Mashrek, is a term used by Arabs to refer to the eastern part of the Arab world, located in Western Asia and eastern North Africa. Poetically the "Place of Sunrise", th ...
References
External links
*
Notice-to-Proceed Launches Ambitious Red Sea CrossingSea crossing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bab-El-Mandeb
Straits of Asia
Straits of Africa
Straits of the Indian Ocean
Arabian mythology
Bodies of water of Yemen
Bodies of water of Djibouti
Bodies of water of the Red Sea
Gulf of Aden
Borders of Yemen
Borders of Djibouti
Borders of Eritrea
International straits
Djibouti–Eritrea border