Sinai Peninsula

The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai (; ; , ) is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia, as opposed to Africa, serving as a land bridge between two continents. The bulk of the peninsula is divided administratively into two of Egypt’s 27 governorates (with three more straddling the Suez Canal area), and has a population of approximately 1,400,000 people. In addition to its formal name, Egyptians also refer to it as ( “the land of turquoise”). The ancient Egyptians called it Mafkat, or “land of the green minerals”. While the Levant region (present-day territories of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), and the Gaza Strip) has historically been the center of conflict between Egypt on the one hand, and one or the other of the states of Mesopotamia (Babylonia, Assyria, Mitanni) and Asia Minor (the Hittite Empire), based largely on its strategic geopolitical location and evolutionary cultural convergences—the Sinai Peninsula remained under Egyptian control from the First Egyptian Dynasty ( BC) until the 20th century. In periods of foreign occupation, it was like the rest of Egypt, also occupied and controlled by the Ottoman Empire, or the United Kingdom (which occupied Egypt from 1882 until 1956). Israel invaded and occupied Sinai during the Suez Crisis (known in Egypt as the Tripartite Aggression due to the simultaneous coordinated attack by the UK, France and Israel) of 1956, and during the Six-Day War of 1967. On 6 October 1973, Egypt launched the Yom Kippur War to retake the peninsula, which was the site of fierce fighting between Egyptian and Israeli forces. In 1982, after the Egyptian-Israeli 1973 war and Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty of 1979, Israel withdrew from the last territory of Sinai Peninsula, which was Taba. Today, Sinai has become a tourist destination due to its natural setting, rich coral reefs, and biblical history. Mount Sinai is one of the most religiously significant places in Abrahamic faiths.