Gulf of Aden

The Gulf of Aden (Arabic: خليج عدن‎ Ḫalīǧ ʻAdan, Somali: Gacanka Cadmeed) is a gulf located in the Arabian Sea between Yemen, on the south coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and Somalia in the Horn of Africa. In the northwest, it connects with the Red Sea through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, which is more than 20 miles wide. It shares its name with the port city of Aden in Yemen, which forms the northern shore of the gulf. Historically the Gulf of Aden was known as "The Gulf of Berbera", named after the ancient Somali port city of Berbera on the south side of the gulf. However, as the city of Aden grew during the colonial era, the name of "Gulf of Aden" was popularised.

The waterway is part of the important Suez canal shipping route between the Mediterranean Sea and the Arabian Sea in the Indian Ocean with 21,000 ships crossing the gulf annually.

Name

The name of the Gulf was inspired by the coastal Yemeni city of Aden. The Somali names are Gacanka Cadmeed or Gacanka Saylac.

Geography

Aden

Aden (UK /ˈeɪdən/ AY-duhn, US /ˈɑːdɛn/ AH-den; Arabic: عدن‎ ʻAdin/ʻAdan  Yemeni pronunciation: [ˈʕæden, ˈʕædæn]) is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some 170 kilometres (110 mi) east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of a dormant volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a low isthmus. This harbour, Front Bay, was first used by the ancient Kingdom of Awsan between the 5th and 7th centuries BC. The modern harbour is on the other side of the peninsula. Aden gives its name to the Gulf of Aden.

Aden consists of a number of distinct sub-centres: Crater, the original port city; Ma'alla, the modern port; Tawahi, known as "Steamer Point" in the colonial period; and the resorts of Gold Mohur. Khormaksar, located on the isthmus that connects Aden proper with the mainland, includes the city's diplomatic missions, the main offices of Aden University, and Aden International Airport (the former British Royal Air Force station RAF Khormaksar), Yemen's second biggest airport. On the mainland are the sub-centres of Sheikh Othman, a former oasis area; Al-Mansura, a town planned by the British; and Madinat ash-Sha'b (formerly Madinat al-Itihad), the site designated as the capital of the South Arabian Federation and now home to a large power/desalinization facility and additional faculties of Aden University.

Aden (battle honour)

Aden was a battle honour awarded to units of the British and Imperial Armies that took part in either of the following campaigns:

This award is unusual in that it was awarded for two entirely unconnected campaigns, undifferenced by year.

References

Aden (disambiguation)

Aden is a port city in Yemen.

Aden may also refer to:

Places

Other

See also