Which African countries border the Red Sea?

The Red Sea separates Africa from Asia; on the Western shore of the Red Sea are the African countries of Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti.

Learn about The Red Sea and the four African countries that border the Red Sea

Red Sea Hotel in Egypt

Which African countries border the Red Sea? The Red Sea separates Africa from Asia; on the Western shore of the Red Sea are the African countries of Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti. The first people known to explore the Red Sea were the Ancient Egyptians, who explored the area around 2500 BC while looking for commercial routes southward.

Red Sea Facts

Fishing in the Red Sea

The Red Sea is an inlet of the Indian Ocean, located between Africa and Asia. This salty sea is just over 190 miles (300 km) across at its widest point, and about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) in length with an estimated average depth of 1,640 feet (500 m).

With the Red Sea’s connection to the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal, it is one of the most heavily traveled waterways in the world, carrying maritime traffic between Europe and Asia.

More than 1200 species of fish have been found in the coral reef ecosystem of the Red Sea; more than 100 of these have not been located in any other body of water.

No water enters the Red Sea from rivers and with hot sunny days, and the lack of any significant rainfall, desert dust storms are known to sweep across the sea. High heat combined with the lack of precipitation facilitates high levels of evaporation hence the sea's high salinity.

Most of the islands of the Red Sea are merely exposed reefs. There is, however, a group of active volcanoes just south of the Dahlak Archipelago as well as a recently extinct volcano on the island of Jabal Al-Ṭāʾir.

The greatest historical event connected with the Red Sea is it was the miraculous passageway of the children of Israel, escaping from the Egyptians. 

Red Sea map

Why is the Red Sea called the Red Sea

So how did the Red Sea get its name? Theories are plentiful, but no one knows for sure how the Red Sea got its name. Some historians believe the Red Sea is named for the Ḥimyarite Kingdom or Ḥimyar, an African kingdom of Arabia who once lived along its shores.  

In ancient languages, the colors black, red, green, and white referred to North, South, East, and west, therefore, the red in Red Sea is actually a designator of the Sea's location in the ancient world.

Other theories on how the Red Sea got its name are the Red Sea name derived from the red color of the mountains on the western shore; others from the red coral found in the sea, or the red appearance sometimes given to the water by invertebrate animals which resemble plants floating on its surface.

About the four African countries that border the Red Sea; Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti.

Sudan, the pyramid capital of the world

Sudan has more than 350 pyramids, double the number found in Egypt. They were constructed in Nubia over a period of a few hundred years to serve as tombs for the kings and queens and wealthy citizens. Nubian pyramids differ from the Egyptian because they were built tall and narrow with offering temples. The area of the Nile valley known as Nubia lies within present-day Sudan. They were constructed in Nubia to serve as tombs for royal families and wealthy citizens. In a desert in eastern Sudan, along the banks of the Nile River, lies a collection of nearly 200 ancient pyramids. The Nile river is Sudan's primary water source; its major tributaries, the White Nile and the Blue Nile, meet at Khartoum to form the River Nile which flows northward through Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea. With the exception of a ribbon of settlement that corresponds to the banks of the Nile, northern Sudan, which extends into the dry Sahara, is sparsely populated. Sudanese pyramids are far less well known nevertheless, Sudan pyramids older than Egypt.

Djibouti

Djibouti is in the Horn of Africa south of the Sahara but is considered part of the MENA region. Also, there are four countries that make up the Horn of Africa, the eastern part of the continent that sticks out into the Indian Ocean? They are Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti (the initials spell SEED). The Horn designation is derived from its shape being reminiscent of a rhinoceros horn. The French Territory of the Afars and the Issas became Djibouti in 1977. The largest ethnic group in Djibouti is Somali recorded at just over 60 percent. Khat (pronounced cot) is an evergreen shrub that grows in areas bordering the Red Sea, including countries in the horn of East Africa. The Khat leaves are chewed by men, women, and children. 

Egypt

Egypt is more than 96% desert yet supports a population of over 100 million people. The Sahara desert is not only the largest African desert but also the largest hot desert in the world occupying 3.3 million sq. miles and still growing larger. It extends over 25% of the continent and occupies many countries including Chad, Algeria, Sudan, Niger, Morocco, Mali, Libya, Egypt, Mauritania, and Tunisia. Most citrus groves in Egypt are located the North of the country producing the Egyptian, Eureka, Rough, Lisbon, and Villafranca lemon variety. Seven largest African cities populations are Lagos Nigeria, Cairo Egypt, Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo, Luanda Angola, Nairobi Kenya, Mogadishu Somalia, and Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire. 

Eritrea

The country name derives from the ancient Greek appellation Erythra Thalassa meaning Red Sea, which is the major water body bordering the country. After independence from Italian colonial control in 1941 and 10 years of British administrative control, the UN established Eritrea as an autonomous region within the Ethiopian federation in 1952. Eritrea has a 73 percent literacy rate.