Ras Siyyan or Ras Siyan () is a

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

in the Obock Region of

Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...

, on the

Bab-el-Mandeb The Bab-el-Mandeb (), the Gate of Grief or the Gate of Tears, is a strait between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa. It connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and by extension the Indian Ocean. ...

strait (between the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

and the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden (; ) 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 Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...

), about 20 km southwest of Perim Island. The peninsula consists of a reddish volcanic hill about 1.2 by 0.5 km and 138 m high,
Sailing Directions (Enroute) - Red Sea and Persian Gulf
'' page 161. National Geospatial Intelligence Agency pub. 172. Accessed 2012-07-6. connected towards to the mainland by a low sandy strip that stretches south by about 5 km while widening from 500 to 800 m.William James Lloyd Wharton, John Phillips (1900),
The Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Pilot
' page 230. Great Britain Hydrographic Offic. The Ras Siyyan volcano is currently inactive but young, having erupted through a 21,000-year-old coral reef formation. To the west of Ras Siyyan there is a shallow marshy bay or

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...

, about 2.5 km wide, protected on the north side by shallow coral banks. The bay is fringed with patches of

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

bushes ('' Avicennia marina''), in spite of the little input of freshwater. Abundant sea grasses (chiefly ''

Halodule ''Halodule'' is a genus of plants in the family (biology), family Cymodoceaceae described as a genus in 1841. It is widespread on tropical and semi-tropical ocean shores of all continents except Europe and Antarctica. Species Hybridization has ...

'' and '' Thalassia'' species) form large beds in the bay, and

Shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

s breed there in October.(2003-2004) ''Master Plan for the Isles des Sept Frères/Ras Siyyan and Godoria Marine Protected Area]''
Draft, 2003-09Draft, 2004-05-21
. Regional Organization for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (PERSGA) An isolated white rock, Rocher Siyyan, lies in the bay about 800 m southwest of the volcanic hill. The hill of Ras Siyyan is sometimes considered the seventh of the Seven Brothers (Sawabi) islands; the other six lie from about 4.5 km to 14.5 km to the east.

References

Landforms of Djibouti Peninsulas of Africa Bab-el-Mandeb {{Djibouti-geo-stub