The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (/ˈsaɪnaɪ/SY-ny; Arabic: سِينَاء; Egyptian Arabic: سينا; Coptic: Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Africa. Sinai has a land area of about 60,000 km2 (23,000 sq mi) (6 percent of Egypt's total area) and a population of approximately 600,000 people.[1] Administratively, the vast majority of the area of the Sinai Peninsula is divided into two governorates: the South Sinai Governorate and the North Sinai Governorate. Three other governorates span the Suez Canal, crossing into African Egypt: Suez Governorate on the southern end of the Suez Canal, Ismailia Governorate in the center, and Port Said Governorate in the north.
In the classical era, the region was known as Arabia Petraea. The peninsula acquired the name Sinai in modern times due to the assumption that a mountain near Saint Catherine's Monastery is the Biblical Mount Sinai.[2] Mount Sinai is one of the most religiously significant places in the Abrahamic faiths.
The Sinai Peninsula has been a part of Egypt from the First Dynasty of ancient Egypt (c. 3100 BC). This comes in stark contrast to the region north of it, the Levant (the present-day territories of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and Palestine), which, due largely to its strategic geopolitical location and cultural convergences, has historically been the center of conflict between Egypt and various states of Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. In periods of foreign occupation, the Sinai was, like the rest of Egypt, also occupied and controlled by foreign empires, in more recent history the Ottoman Empire (1517–1867) and the United Kingdom (1882–1956). 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 unsuccessful. In 1982, as a result of the Egypt–Israel peace treaty of 1979, Israel withdrew from all of the Sinai Peninsula except the contentious territory of Taba, which was returned after a ruling by a commission of arbitration in 1989.
Today, Sinai has become a tourist destination due to its natural setting, rich coral reefs, and biblical history.
^ abJanuary 2018 population data gives the North and South governorates' population at approximately 560,000 (per "اPop. Estimates by Governorate 1/1/2018". www.capmas.gov.eg. Archived from the original on 2 November 2018.). In 1997 these two governorates accounted for 97% of the peninsula's population.Greenwood, Ned (1997). The Sinai: A Physical Geography. University of Texas Press. pp. 5. ISBN 978-0-292-72799-1. Over 94 percent of the area and probably 97 percent of the population are found in the large governorates, leaving less than 6 percent of the area and 3 percent of the population attached to As Suways (Suez), Al Ismailiyah (Ismailia),and Bur Said (Port Said) governorates.
^De Vaux, Roland (1978). The Early History of Israel. Darton, Longman & Todd. p. 429. ISBN 978-0-232-51242-7. The name 'Sinai peninsula' is modern. It is derived from the Christian tradition, according to which Sinai was located in the south of the peninsula. This Christian tradition goes back to the fourth century, to the time when the Spanish pilgrim Egeria (or Etheria) visited Sinai in A.D. 383. From this time onwards, Christians grouped all the Old Testament memories round the Jebel Musa.
The SinaiPeninsula, or simply Sinai (/ˈsaɪnaɪ/ SY-ny; Arabic: سِينَاء; Egyptian Arabic: سينا; Coptic: Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part...
The SinaiPeninsula, which is a part of Egypt, has been militarily occupied by Israel twice since the beginning of the Arab–Israeli conflict: the first...
Moses), is a mountain on the SinaiPeninsula of Egypt. It is one of several locations claimed to be the biblical Mount Sinai, the place where, according...
The Sinai insurgency was an insurgency in the SinaiPeninsula of Egypt, launched by Islamist militants against Egyptian security forces, which have also...
Muhammad. The SinaiPeninsula is associated with the prophets Harun (Aaron) and Musa (Moses). In particular, numerous references to Mount Sinai exist in the...
Syria. The majority of combat between the two sides took place in the SinaiPeninsula and the Golan Heights—both of which had been occupied by Israel in...
Look up Sinai, sinai, Sinaï, Sinaí, or šinai in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Sinai commonly refers to: SinaiPeninsula, Egypt Mount Sinai, a mountain...
War saw Israel occupying the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Egyptian SinaiPeninsula and the Syrian Golan Heights. It has since established and continues...
Desert (extends from the Nile Valley all the way to the Red Sea coast) SinaiPeninsula Despite covering only about 5% of the total area of Egypt; the Nile...
Saudi Arabia. In the classical era, the SinaiPeninsula was also considered a part of Arabia. The Arabian Peninsula formed as a result of the rifting of...
four-month-long occupation of the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip and Egypt's SinaiPeninsula enabled it to attain freedom of navigation through the Straits of Tiran...
liberation of the peninsula of Sinai corresponding to April 25 of each year, celebrating the day in 1982 when Egypt recovered the land of Sinai and the withdrawal...
massacre an attempt of genocide against the Sufi Muslim community of the SinaiPeninsula. EOHR also called upon the Egyptian government to provide adequate...
definitions also include southern Lebanon, southern Syria and/or the SinaiPeninsula. As a strictly geographical description, it is sometimes used by archaeologists...
which Israel had any presence in the SinaiPeninsula at all meant they had to withdraw from the entire SinaiPeninsula. Israeli settlers tried to prevent...
They conclude, however, that Dictamnus spp. are not found in the Sinaipeninsula, adding: "It is, therefore, highly improbable that any Dictamnus spp...
Peak or Ras es-Safsafeh (Arabic: رأس صفصافة) is a mountain in the SinaiPeninsula. The mountain peak overlooks Saint Catherine's Monastery, and is situated...
culminating in the Suez Crisis of 1956, during which Israel invaded Egypt's SinaiPeninsula in order to force a re-opening of the blockaded waters, though the...
continent. Includes Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Figure is for the SinaiPeninsula. Total area is 1,010,408 (390,121) including African part. Total area...
Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenian highlands, the Levant, the island of Cyprus, the SinaiPeninsula and the South Caucasus...
The August 2012 Sinai attack occurred on 5 August 2012, when armed men ambushed an Egyptian military base in the SinaiPeninsula, killing 16 soldiers and...
1982, there were 18 settlements established in the Israeli-occupied SinaiPeninsula of Egypt, though these were dismantled by Israel after the Egypt–Israel...
international Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) peace mission at the SinaiPeninsula. A small unit with one transport C-295M turboprop belonging to the...
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