| Gulf of Aqaba | |
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| Location | Southwest Asia and Northeast Africa |
| Ocean type | Gulf |
| Primary sources | Red Sea |
| Basin countries | Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia |
| Max length | 160 km (99 mi) |
| Max width | 24 |
| Max depth | 1,850 m (6,070 ft) |
The Gulf of Aqaba (Arabic: خليج العقبة; transliterated: Khalyj al-'Aqabah) is a large gulf located at the northern tip of the Red Sea. In pre twentieth-century and modern sources it is often named the Gulf of Eilat, as Eilat is its predominant Israeli city (Hebrew: מפרץ אילת, transliterated: Mifratz Eilat).
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The Gulf is located to the east of the Sinai Peninsula and west of the Arabian mainland. This and the Gulf of Suez are the two gulfs extending from the northern portion of the Red Sea; the Gulf of Aqaba is east of the Gulf of Suez. Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia all have coastlines on the Gulf. It reaches a maximum depth of 1,850 m in its central basin (the Gulf of Suez is significantly wider but less than 100 m deep).
The Gulf of Aqaba measures 24 kilometres (15 mi) at its widest point and stretches some 160 kilometres (99 mi) north from the Straits of Tiran to a point where the border of Israel meets the borders of Egypt and Jordan.
The Gulf of Aqaba, like the coastal waters of the Red Sea, is one of the world's premier sites for diving. The area is especially rich in coral and other marine biodiversity and contains a number of underwater wrecks, some accidental shipwrecks, others vessels deliberately sunk in an effort to provide a habitat for marine organisms and bolster the local dive tourism industry.
At this northern end of the Gulf are three important cities: Taba in Egypt, Eilat in Israel, and Aqaba in Jordan. All three cities serve both as strategically important commercial ports and as popular resort destinations for tourists seeking to enjoy the warm climate of the region. Further south, Haql is the largest Saudi Arabian city on the gulf. On Sinai, Sharm el-Sheikh and Dahab are the major centers.
The largest population center on the Gulf of Aqaba is Aqaba, with a population of 108,000 inhabitants (2009), followed by Eilat with a population of 48,000 (2009).
The International Hydrographic Organization defines the southern limit of the Gulf of Aqaba as "A line running from Ràs al Fasma Southwesterly to Requin Island () through Tiran Island to the Southwest point thereof and thence Westward on a parallel (27°54'N) to the coast of the Sinaï Peninsula".[1]
The Gulf of Aqaba 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 Sinai Peninsula and the Gulf of Aqaba lying to its east. Geologically, the Gulf of Aqaba is an integral part of the Great Rift Valley that runs from East Africa through the Red Sea and northwards towards the rift valley containing the Dead Sea.
Trade across the Red Sea between Thebes port of Elim and Elat at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba is documented as early as the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt. Red Sea expeditions crossing the Red Sea and heading south to Punt are mentioned in the Fifth dynasty of Egypt, the Sixth dynasty of Egypt, the Eleventh dynasty of Egypt, the Twelfth dynasty of Egypt and the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt when Hatshepsut built a fleet to support the trade and journeyed south to Punt herself in a six-month voyage. Thebes used Nubian gold or Nub from her conquests south into Kush to facilitate the purchase of Frankincense, Myrrh, Bitumen, Natron, Juniper oil, Linen, and Copper amulets for the mummification industry at Karnak. Egyptian settlements near Timnah at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba date to the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt.
At the northern edge, the ancient city of Ayla (in present-day Aqaba) constituted a commercial hub for the Nabateans, the Romans later built the Via Traiana Nova route that met with the King's Highway in Aqaba, that connected Africa to Asia and the Levant and the Red Sea shipping.
The port of Aqaba was a major Ottoman port on the red sea, 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 Greater Syria.
The Gulf of Aqaba is one of the most popular diving destinations in the world. About 250,000 dives are performed annually in Eilat's 11 km Gulf of Aqaba coastline, and diving represents 10% of the tourism income of this area.[2]
The Landscape of Wadi Rum to the east of the northern edge of the gulf is also a popular destination. Other touristic destinations are the ruins of the iron-age civilization of Ayla in the city of Aqaba, which was also the site of the historic Battle of Aqaba, a World War I battle, led by Lawrence of Arabia.