The Guardafui Channel ( so, Marinka Gardafuul) is an oceanic

strait A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. The surface water generally flows at the same elevation on both sides and through the strait in either direction. Most commonly, it is a narrow ocean chan ...

off the tip of the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004 ...

that lies between the

Puntland Puntland ( so, Puntland, ar, أرض البنط, it, Terra di Punt or ''Paese di Punt''), officially the Puntland State of Somalia ( so, Dowlad Goboleedka Puntland ee Soomaaliya, ar, ولاية أرض البنط الصومالية), is a F ...

region of

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...

and

Socotra Socotra or Soqotra (; ar, سُقُطْرَىٰ ; so, Suqadara) is an island of the Republic of Yemen in the Indian Ocean, under the ''de facto'' control of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, a secessionist participant in Yemen� ...

to the west of the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channe ...

. It connects the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden ( ar, خليج عدن, so, Gacanka Cadmeed 𐒅𐒖𐒐𐒕𐒌 𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒗𐒒) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Chann ...

to the north with 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 ...

to the south. Its namesake is Cape Guardafui, the very tip of the Horn of Africa. Notable places of interest include the Alula Lagoon.

Extent

Its width is roughy between Ras Asir ( Gardafuul) and Abd al Kari, and roughly between Ras Asir and Socotra. Gardafuul, a province of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, is named after it. In its narrower sense, Marinka Gardafuul, in English called the Guardafui Channel, refers to the strait between Puntland and Abd al Kuri.

Names

The oceanic strait goes by many names, including the ''Ras Hafun Strait'', named after the headland of

Ras Hafun Ras Hafun ( so, Ras Xaafuun, ar, رأس حـافـون, it, Capo Hafun), also known as Cape Hafun, is a promontory in the northeastern Bari region of Somalia. Jutting out into the Guardafui Channel, it constitutes the easternmost point in Afri ...

, near the town of

Foar Foar is a town in the northeastern Bari region of Somalia, on the coast of the Guardafui Channel. It is a center for the local lobster Lobsters are a family (Nephropidae, synonym Homaridae) of marine crustaceans. They have long bodies with ...

, the ''Ras Asir-Socotra Strait'', the ''Cape Guardafui Strait'', the Guardafui-Socotra Channel Guardafui Channel Cape Guardafui Channel, ''Socotra Strait'', and ''Socotra Passage''.

History

The oceanic strait has been regarded as a possibly dangerous pitfall both during peace and war times. It was a highly strategic region during World War Two. Due to its possession by an Axis power at the time, Italy, The Allies attempted to secure passage through the oceanic strait in the Operation Chapter. Subsequently, the Allies decided that in order to continue routing independent ships and convoys, air cover was needed. The oceanic strait also experiences cyclones that emerge from its southeast in the Somali sea. There is a dispute between the Somali government and Yemen over the sovereignty of its islands. The presence of an archipelago has also meant that there are shores for stranded sailors to find shelter, which on occasion has subsequently resulted in their evacuations.

Geography

To the northwest, it connects with the Gulf of Aden, to the northeast with the

and to the south with the Somali sea. The passage contains the islands of Abd al Kuri, Darsah and Samhah. Ships passing the strait use the Francesco Crispi lighthouse in Cape Guardafui as a navigational aid. On the western mainland on the Horn African coast, lie the Puntite localities of Aluula, Ras Filuk, Cape Guardafui, Bereeda, Tohen and Bargal.

Geology

The northern reaches of the Guardafui Channel lies at the Gulf of Aden

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but t ...

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first 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 means "less recen ...

oceanic floor; here water depths reach in excess of 2500 m. The Guardafui Channel, as well as the island chain of the Socotra archipelago are located in the

Somali Plate The Somali Plate is a minor tectonic plate which straddles the Equator in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is currently in the process of separating from the African Plate along the East African Rift Valley. It is approximately centered on the isl ...

.Khanna, S. N., and G. E. Pillay. "Geology And Petroleum Prospects of Seychelles." (1988): 114-124.

References

External links

{{List of African seas

International straits Bodies of water of Somalia