Suez Canal and Gulf of Suez – BelovedPlanet

The Gulf of Suez is one of the two major bays in the South China Sea. Red Seafrom the Juba Strait in the south to the city of Suez in the north, connecting Mediterranean Through the Suez Canal.

Even in the most ancient times, people tried to connect the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. But this bold and large-scale project was not realized until the second half of the 19th century.

Between Africa and Asia

The Gulf of Suez separates the Sinai Peninsula from Africa, and the Suez Canal opens up the shortest route from Europe to Asia and East Africa.

The Suez Canal is one of the most important waterways in the world. This waterway originates from Europe and the Mediterranean Sea, passes through the Suez Canal, and enters Indian Oceanleading to Asian and African countries. The canal runs through the arid and sparsely populated Sinai Peninsula and the Eastern Desert, with its largest ports being Port Said and Port Suez.

The Gulf of Suez in the Red Sea is a long and narrow tributary formed by the movement of the earth’s crust when the Arabian Peninsula separated from Africa 20 million years ago. The other three tributaries are the Red Sea itself and the Gulf of Aqaba in the east.

The climate here is hot, there are no permanent rivers, only dry riverbeds flowing into the bay, which do not bring a drop of water all year round. Therefore, the evaporation rate in the bay is very high, and the salinity is higher than many other sea areas in the world’s oceans. On the other hand, the water in the bay is warm all year round and extremely clear (visibility reaches 200 meters), creating conditions for the development of coral reefs.

history

In the history of human civilization, the Gulf of Suez was the most important center of world trade, and major ancient empires fought fiercely for control of the region.

As early as 30,000 years ago, people settled on the coast of the Gulf, and 6,000 years ago, the great Egyptian culture was born here. A thousand years ago, the entire territory was occupied by Arab tribes. The Turks who founded the Ottoman Empire once established a foothold here, but later left, leaving the land to the Arabs.

In ancient times, people tried to build a canal between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Around 1300 BC, during the reign of Pharaohs Seti I and Ramses II, ancient Egypt built the Pharaoh Canal to connect the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Nile River and the Red Sea.

With the decline of ancient Egypt, the canal was destroyed. It was restored in the 3rd century BC under the reign of King Ptolemy II of Egypt, and in Roman times it was known as the “Trajan River” – in honor of the Roman emperor.

In 642 AD, the Arabs conquered Egypt and were eager to repair the strategically important canal, calling it the Khalij Amir El-Muminin, or Canal of the Lord of the Believers. However, in 776 AD, the Arabs themselves built a dam and used the canal as a trade route for the main areas of the Arab Caliphate. Plans to repair the canal were made by the Venetians in the late 15th century, the Turks in the mid-16th century, the Ottoman Empire, and the French army under Napoleon during their expedition to Egypt, but these plans were doomed to failure.

The canal was not built until the second half of the 19th century.

In 1854, after unremitting efforts, French diplomat and businessman Ferdinand de Lesseps finally obtained permission from Egyptian ruler Sayyid Pasha to build a canal connecting the Gulf of Suez in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Perusia in the Mediterranean. The permission was valid for 99 years from the start of the canal construction. After the expiration of the period, the canal would belong to Egypt.

Construction of the canal began on April 25, 1859. It was a massive undertaking. The construction of the canal benefited from dried-up lakes that lay below sea level and facilitated the laying of the canal. Still, a lot of soil had to be excavated. The work was done manually in the waterless desert, under the blazing sun. Egyptian peasants were brought here by the local government at a rate of 60,000 per month, when Egypt’s population was only 4 million, to participate in the construction work. Not surprisingly, about 120,000 people died from hard labor and epidemics.

Lesseps was unable to complete the work within the six-year time limit stipulated in the contract: the work took 11 years.

On November 17, 1869, the Suez Canal was opened. For this event and the opening of the New Theater in Cairo, Italian composer Verdi composed the opera Aida at the invitation of the Governor-General of Egypt.

The initial water depth of the canal channel is 7.94 meters and the width is 21 meters.

In 1875, under pressure from international debts, the Egyptian government was forced to cede its share of the canal to Britain. Egypt lost control of the canal and its profits. Britain became the owner of the canal. During World War I and World War II, Britain controlled all shipping on the canal. Egyptian ships paid the same fees as foreign ships to pass through the canal and could not use the canal for domestic communications.

On July 26, 1956, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the canal. Britain, France, and the United States first tried to “internationalize” the canal. When these attempts failed, British, French, and Israeli forces launched the so-called 1956 Suez War, which lasted a week. The canal was partially destroyed, but Egypt later rebuilt it with the help of the Allies.

The canal was closed again after the Six-Day Arab-Israeli War in 1967, and again during the Arab-Israeli War in 1973. After the war, the canal had to be demined for a long time.

Egypt is continuously carrying out the canal deepening project. Currently, the canal can accommodate fully loaded ships with a draft of 20.1 meters, a displacement of 240,000 tons, a water depth of 68 meters and a width of 77.5 meters.

The Suez Canal has only one channel, but there are multiple diversion sections in the canal to facilitate the passage of ships. Currently, about 8% of the world’s maritime traffic passes through the canal. On average, 48 ships pass through the canal every day, and it is a one-way passage.

The operation of the Suez Canal is Egypt’s second largest source of income after tourism.

In the twentieth century, the small fishing villages along the coast were transformed into thriving holiday resorts, with millions of tourists flocking here to admire the beauty and climate of the Gulf of Suez.

Tourism is not the only wealth of the Gulf: at the entrance to the Gulf, in the Gemsa region on the west coast, there are rich reserves of oil and natural gas.

The central Gulf of Suez and along the Isthmus of Suez are the traditional borders between Asia and Africa.

To the north of the Gulf is the Egyptian city of Suez, where the navigable Suez Canal begins, connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

The Suez Canal (Kana al-Suwais in Arabic) has greatly shortened the journey for ships that previously had to go around Africa to reach the Indian Ocean. The canal runs through the lowest and narrowest part of the Isthmus of Suez, passing through several lakes along the way.

The main difference between the Suez Canal and similar canals is that the terrain is flat, there are no locks on the canal, and seawater can flow freely.

The major Egyptian cities along the canal include Port Said (and Port Fuad) on the Mediterranean coast, Ismailia located roughly in the center, and Suez (and Port Tewfik) on the Red Sea coast.

Suez Canal attractions include the Ahmed Hamdi Road Tunnel that crosses the canal bed, the cable-stayed 25th of January Road Bridge in Soulhada, the unique power transmission line with poles 221 meters high, and the El Ferdan Railway Bridge.

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General information

Gulf of Suez

• Location: Northwest of the Red Sea, between Africa and the Sinai Peninsula (Asia).
• Basin:Indian Ocean.
• Countries facing the Gulf: Arab Republic of Egypt.
• Language: Arabic.
• Currency: Egyptian Pound.
• Most important port: Suez, population 478,553.
• Length: 314 km.
• Maximum width: 32 km.
• Average depth: 40 meters.
• Maximum depth: 70 meters.
• Tide: Semi-diurnal tide, tidal height: 1.8 meters.
• Salinity: 40-42‰.
• Annual average water temperature: Maximum 30℃.
• Water level difference when water flows: 0.5m to 1m.

Suez Canal

• Location: Between Africa and the Sinai Peninsula (Asia).
• Basin: Indian and Atlantic Oceans.
• The most important ports (population, cargo throughput): Port Suez (3 million tons), Port Said (603,787 people, 1 million tons), Port Ismailia (750,000 people), Port Fuad (560,000 people).
• Largest lakes: Great Bitter Lake, Lesser Bitter Lake, Manzara, Timsah (Crocodile Lake), Bara.
• Length: 193.25 km.
• Depth: 24 m.
• Width: 205 meters.
• Diversion sections: northern – 22 km, direct canal – 162.25 km, southern – 9 km.
• Time to transit the canal: approximately 14 hours.
• Boat speed depends on tonnage and category: 11-16 km/h.

economy

• Mineral resources (Gulf of Suez): oil and natural gas.
• Mining of Kakar: $5.2 billion.
• Services: tourism, transportation, trade.

Climate and Weather

• Subtropical Mediterranean.
• Average temperature in January: +20°С.
• Average temperature in July: +30°С.
• Average annual precipitation: 400-500 mm.
• Average annual water temperature: +25°C.

Attractions

• Big Bitter Lake and Little Bitter Lake.
• Manzala Lake
• Suez: Port Tewfik.
• Port Said City: Port Fouad, National Museum, Military Museum, Egyptian Museum of Modern Art.
• Ismailia: Suez Canal Authority Headquarters.
• Ahmed Hamdi Road Tunnel.
• Shohada January 25th Road Bridge.
• Transmission lines.
• Elferdam Railway Bridge.
• Coral reefs in the Gulf of Suez.

Interesting Facts

• During the construction of the modern Suez Canal, part of the old channel of the Pharaonic Canal was used to build a freshwater canal, the Ismailia Canal.
• In the 18th and 19th centuries, building a canal through the Isthmus of Suez was considered impossible for political and technical reasons. Jacques Leperre, a French engineer working for Napoleon Bonaparte, believed that the water level of the Mediterranean Sea was 9.9 meters lower than that of the Red Sea, and it was not known how to build large locks. In addition, Emperor Napoleon had already abandoned his plans to conquer Egypt.
• Because there are no locks in the Suez Canal, the canal water north of the Great Bitter Lake flows north in winter and south in summer.
• On the 38km section from Port Said to El Cantara, the canal route passes through Lake Manzara, which is actually a shallow lagoon in the Mediterranean.
• The canal zone was designed by French and Italian experts, and the canal was built by the Suez Canal Company, a company owned by Lesseps, although legally it belongs to Egypt. The Egyptian government holds a 44% stake, France 53%, and other participants 3%.
• In 1863, the Egyptian governor, Ismail Pasha, banned the use of forced labor in the construction of the Suez Canal. But Ferdinand de Lesseps managed to get Egypt to pay a huge fine of 84 million francs to cover the costs.
• The Suez Canal has significantly shortened sea voyage time: if the route from Marseille (France) around Africa to Mumbai (India) is about 16,700 kilometers, then through the Suez Canal it is 73,000 kilometers; from Odessa to Vladivostok it is only 14,800 kilometers instead of 25,600 kilometers.
• During the construction of the Suez Canal, 1,600 camels were used to transport water for the workers until a freshwater canal from the Nile was built in 1863.