SINAI PENINSULA

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Context

• Hundreds of tonnes of aid from several countries have been waiting in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula for days pending a deal for its safe delivery to Gaza and the evacuation of some foreign passport holders through the Rafah crossing.

About Sinai Peninsula

• It is a triangle-shaped peninsula in Egypt's northeastern desert.
• It connects Asia and Africa via a land bridge.
• 61,000 square kilometers (23,500 square miles).
• It is Egypt's sovereign territory.
• Boundaries: The Mediterranean Sea borders the peninsula to the north, and Israel and the Gaza Strip border it to the east.
• The Suez Canal, which connects the African and Mediterranean halves of Egypt, is located to the west of the Sinai Peninsula.
• The Sinai Peninsula is bounded to the southwest by the Gulf of Suez and to the south by the Red Sea.
• In the southeast, the Gulf of Aqaba borders Sinai.
• Egypt shares maritime borders with Jordan and Saudi Arabia in the Sinai.

History of Sinai Peninsula

• Egypt, including the Sinai Peninsula, became a member of the British Empire in the late nineteenth century.
• Egypt was ruled by the British until 1922, when it gained independence.
• During the Six-Day War in June 1967, Israeli forces conquered the peninsula.
• It was returned to Egypt in 1982 following the provisions of the 1979 peace deal between the two countries.
• It has a diversified landscape that includes mountain ranges, deserts, plateaus, and coastal regions.
• The Sinai is lightly inhabited; approximately 600,000 people reside there.
• Today, most Sinai residents are Arab Egyptians and Bedouins.