Sinai General Information

The Sinai Peninsular is a strategically positioned land mass covering about 60’000 km2 from the Mediterranean Sea to the North to the Red Sea in the South. The west coast of Sinai faces the Gulf of Suez and the East coast faces the Gulf of Aqaba with views of Saudi Arabia to the South and Jordan to the North. From Taba Sinai is bordering Israel and Gaza. It is almost triangular in shape hence the name peninsular.

Sinai

Sinai is the only part of Egypt that is actually part of the continent of Asia, as opposed to the rest of Egypt which is located in the continent of Africa. Whilst Sinai is actually divided from the rest of Egypt by the Suez Canal its location is important and it is a major route for trade and goods. The Suez tunnel connects South Sinai to the mainland and north of the tunnel there are bridges and ferries connecting the sides of the Suez canal together.

Sinai is divided into two governates, North Sinai which is the section north of Taba and north of the Gulf of Suez, where part  of the western area near the Suez canal has become in the Ismailia governate, and South Sinai which is the southern part of the peninsula. The overall population of Sinai is about 500,000 people of which the people are largely Sinai Bedouin and Egyptians from the Africa side that settled over recent years for employment. About 5% of the population is made up of expatriate immigrants who live here to enjoy the climate and some have made businesses in the tourist areas.

The largest towns in Sinai

The largest towns in Sinai are Al Arish in North Sinai Governate on the Mediterranean coast and El Tor and Sharm El Sheikh on the southern points of the peninsular in South Sinai.