Sinai Peninsula | peninsula, Egypt | Britannica.com Sinai Peninsula Alternative Titles: Shibh Jazīrat Sīnāʾ, Sinai Desert Related Topics Arab-Israeli wars Sinai Peninsula, Arabic Shibh Jazīrat Sīnāʾ , triangular peninsula linking Africa with Asia and occupying an area of 23,500 square miles (61,000 square km). The Sinai Desert, as the peninsula’s arid expanse is called, is separated by the Gulf of Suez and the Suez Canal from the Eastern Desert of Egypt , but it continues eastward into the Negev desert without marked change of relief. Usually regarded as being geographically part of Asia, the Sinai Peninsula is the northeastern extremity of Egypt and adjoins Israel and the Gaza Strip on the east. The Sinai is administratively divided into two muḥāfaẓahs (governorates): Shamāl Sīnāʾ in the north and Janūb Sīnāʾ in the south.

The peninsula was occupied by Israeli forces during the Six-Day War of June 1967 but was returned to Egypt in 1982 under the terms of the peace treaty concluded between those countries in 1979. Geography The Sinai Peninsula lies between the Gulf of Suez and the Suez Canal on the west and the Gulf of Aqaba and the Negev on the east, and it is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the north and the Red Sea to the south. Its greatest dimensions are about 130 miles (210 km) from east to west and about 240 miles (385 km) from north to south. Two principal regions may be recognized in Sinai. The first region is the southern complex of high mountains, including such peaks as Mount Kātrīnā (Catherine), elevation 8,668 feet (2,642 metres); Umm Shūmar, 8,482 feet (2,585 metres); Al-Thabṭ, 7,997 feet (2,437 metres); and Mount Sinai , 7,497 feet (2,285 metres).

The southern region is essentially composed of igneous rocks and is sharply incised by deep, canyonlike wadis (seasonal watercourses) that drain toward the Gulf of Suez or the Gulf of Aqaba. This gaunt mountain mass is separated from the Gulf of Suez to the west by a narrow coastal plain, but on its eastern side it rises precipitately from the Gulf of Aqaba. The second region, flanking this mass on the north and forming two-thirds of Sinai, is a great plateau sloping from heights of more than 3,000 feet (900 metres) downward to the Mediterranean. It is characterized by the extensive plain of Wadi Al-ʿArīsh , by a number of islandlike massifs, and by broad western and northern coastal plains that have extensive sand dunes. Similar Topics Zamboanga Peninsula A conspicuous ridge runs along the southern rim of the Sinai in a great horseshoe curve, from which three main drainage basins have developed. The northern (or Mediterranean) drainage basin, in which Wadi Al-ʿArīsh acts as a master stream, empties into the Mediterranean near the town of Al-ʿArīsh .

The eastern (Gulf of Aqaba and Dead Sea) basin and the western (Gulf of Suez) basin are both drained by a number of small streams. It is estimated that the Sinai Desert receives more than 1.6 million acre-feet (2 billion cubic metres) of water annually from local precipitation. About one-fourth of this water flows on the surface as runoff, and a similar amount percolates to groundwater reservoirs, thereby offering excellent opportunities for water conservation. The Sinai falls within the great arid climatic belt crossing northern Africa and southwestern Asia. Aridity is manifested in Sinai by a degraded soil surface, sand-dune expanses, salinization, and wadis. That less-arid climatic conditions formerly prevailed is demonstrated by occasional terraces of thick alluvial and lacustrine deposits. In the Sinai’s northern, or Mediterranean, region of low relief, the climate in winter has a relatively high amount of precipitation (5 inches [125 mm]); in summer it is dry and intensely hot, and in spring and autumn it has dry southern khamsin winds and occasional torrential rains.

In the southern, or Red Sea, region, the climate differs because of the mountainous nature of the terrain. The prominent peaks are covered with clouds throughout the year and with ice in winter. Again, in winter there is some precipitation in the southern region; in summer, rare monsoon winds from the southeast also account for occasional heavy precipitation. The nights are cool, even though the daytime summer heat is intense. Prevailing light winds in the Sinai are mainly from the north. Relative humidity is generally high on the coasts, reaching 74 percent along the Mediterranean and 60 percent along the Red Sea. Britannica Stories Ringling Bros. Folds Its Tent Aside from newly irrigated areas on the northern coastal plain, the vegetation in the Sinai Desert is mostly ephemeral , but perennial scrub survives on the steep southern slopes and on the plateau to the north. Succulents and halophytes (salt-tolerant plants) are found on the subdesertic coastal plains, and medicinal and fodder plants are widely distributed. Animals are rare, but the species represented include ibex, gazelles, sand foxes, leopards, wildcats, jackals, hares, hedgehogs, and moles.

Falcons and eagles are indigenous , and there are also seasonal migrants such as quail, partridge, and grouse. All About Asia The scanty population of Sinai is mostly concentrated in the northern fringe, where water supplies are adequate, as well as in the western fringe, where petroleum and manganese industries have been developed. The settled population is engaged in agriculture, land reclamation, and pastoralism and in the petroleum, mining , fishery, and tourism industries. The nomadic Bedouin tribes migrate in search of water and pasturage but are increasingly attracted to industry and agriculture. In the mountainous south, a community of Eastern Orthodox Christian monks lives in St. Catherine’s Monastery . Petroleum, first discovered in 1910 at Mount Tanakah, in west Sinai, is the most important mineral exploited in the peninsula. Mineral ores considered feasible for exploitation include manganese and uranium. Various other minerals are also present, and building stones, dolomite, and sands and gravels are abundant. Land reclamation and irrigation efforts using groundwater or water pumped from the Nile River have enabled several hundred thousand acres of land on the northern-coastal plain to be newly cultivated .

Barley, fruits, market vegetables, dates, and olives are produced, and wood trees have been planted. Date palm groves are scattered throughout the peninsula, and some of the area’s original Bedouin inhabitants are still engaged in the nomadic grazing of livestock. History Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest The Sinai has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The earliest written information about it dates from 3000 bce, when the ancient Egyptians recorded their explorations there in search of copper ores. The name Sinai, however, seems to have been known much earlier and may have been derived from the original name of one of the most ancient religious cults of the Middle East , that of the moon god Sin . The passage of the Israelites through Sinai is undoubted, but the route and the date of their Exodus are still matters of debate. Sinai is likewise famous as the scene of the giving of the Law to Moses , but there is doubt as to which of the mountains of Sinai is the actual site. A road along the Sinai’s northern coast served as the principal trade route between Egypt and Palestine for many centuries, and it is likely that Egypt erected a chain of fortresses to guard this route.

After the decline of the Egyptian empire, Nabataeans from Petra controlled the trade routes of the Sinai for two centuries until they were defeated by the Romans in 106 ce. The region then became part of the province of Arabia in the Roman Empire . During the early Christian period, Sinai became the home of a large number of hermits and ascetics , particularly in the mountainous southern region. In 530 ce the Byzantine emperor Justinian I began the building of the monastery of St. Catherine on the lower slopes of Mount Sinai. This provided a centre for the scattered communities of Christians in the area, and the monastery served as a pilgrimage site throughout the Middle Ages . After 1517 Sinai formed part of the Ottoman Empire and was administered by an official sent from Constantinople (now Istanbul ). Conditions in the Sinai deteriorated, and traveling there became difficult after Egypt became independent of direct Turkish rule in the early 19th century. The Al-ʿArīsh area was the scene of fighting between the Turks and the British during World War I , and at war’s end the Sinai was turned over to Egypt.

The Sinai was administered by Egypt until the Israelis overran the peninsula in the Six-Day War of June 1967. The Sinai has been the focus of Israeli-Egyptian combat in every military confrontation between the two countries since 1949, with the Giddi and Mitla passes in the peninsula’s northeastern portion being the scene of bitter fighting in 1956, 1967, and 1973. Following the peace agreement reached between Egypt and Israel in the late 1970s, the Sinai Peninsula was returned to Egypt. The peninsula was later the site of a number of attacks by militant Islamist groups; primarily targeting tourists, attacks included those in Ṭābā (and elsewhere) in October 2004, in Sharm al-Shaykh in July 2005, and in Dhahab in April 2006. More about Sinai Peninsula Sinai Peninsula - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) A triangular landform linking Africa and Asia, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula has an area of about 23,440 square miles (60,710 square kilometers).

It lies between the Gulf of Suez and the Suez Canal on the west, the Gulf of Aqaba and the Negev desert on the east, the Mediterranean Sea on the north, and the Red Sea on the south. Mount Sinai is renowned as the principal site of divine revelation in Jewish history, where God appeared to Moses and gave him the Ten Commandments. It is also sacred in both Christian and Islamic tradition. Article History Where Is The Sinai Peninsula? - WorldAtlas.com Geography Where Is The Sinai Peninsula? The only non-African part of Egypt links the Asian and African continents, and borders Israel to the east. The Colored Canyons in the southeastern Sinai Peninsula, near Nuweiba, South Sinai, Egypt. 5. Description The Sinai Peninsula, a roughly triangularly-shaped, arid region, lies at a strategic point between the continents of Africa and Asia. The western boundaries of the peninsula are formed by the Suez Canal in Egypt, and the northeastern boundary is formed by the Israeli-Egyptian border. The Sinai Peninsula is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south.

The peninsula covers an area of about 61,000 square kilometers, and is geographically part of both North Africa and southwest Asia (or the Middle East). 4. Historical Role Evidence of human life on the Sinai Peninsula shows that the region was inhabited as early as 200,000 years ago. Copper and turquoise mining in the Sinai, fostered by the Egyptian pharaohs, had already begun during the First Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. The Sinai Peninsula also holds a special place in Biblical history, as it is where Abraham and Moses, the two great Bible personalities, are believed to have inhabited and/or crossed the region at some point of time. For a long time in history, the Sinai Peninsula was under the control of the Ottoman Empire, but the Ottoman Turks were displaced from the region by British rule in 1906. The Arab-Israeli War, beginning in 1948, witnessed intense fighting between Egypt and the newly created state of Israel to control the Sinai Peninsula. As per the 1949 Armistice Agreement, Sinai was placed under Egyptian rule.

However, for decades Egypt and Israel continued to fight over the strategic Sinai territory and, after the Six-Day War of 1967, Israeli forces occupied the Sinai territory. Finally, in 1979, a peace treaty between the two countries allowed Egypt to once more control the Sinai Peninsula, and Israeli forces had pulled out of the region by 1982. 3. Modern Significance The Sinai Peninsula has immense political and religious significance in today’s world. The site witnessed the decades-long conflict between Israel and Egypt, and illegal cross border movements of armed militants, drug dealers, and refugees in the region still pose a huge problem to both Egypt and Israel. Though the Sinai is a part of Egypt, its relative geographical isolation gives way to a lax state of security in the region. Most of Egypt’s economic gains from the peninsula are based from the tourism industry's revenues, especially those tourist endeavors operating along the southern Sinai's Red Sea coastline. The Sinai Peninsula also draws a significant number of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish religious pilgrims because of its significant ancient associations with each of these religions.

Over 360,000 people inhabit the region, many depending on agriculture and livestock raising for their livelihoods, with human populations concentrated primarily in the northern and western fringes. Small scale petroleum and manganese industries also operate towards the west of the Sinai Peninsula, closer to the major mineral markets of Egypt.. 2. Habitat and Biodiversity The climate of the Sinai Peninsula varies from north to south. Summer months in the north are extremely hot and dry, while winters are cooler and accompanied by a relatively high amount of precipitation. The southern parts of the peninsula are more arid and hot, though occasional showers of rain do occur in the summertime. The region has a rugged landscape with mountains and hills, and the higher peaks receive snowfall in winter. The coastal areas have high levels of humidity and support coral reef habitats. Leopards, gazelles, sand foxes, jackals, wild cats, ibexes, various species of rodents, several species of poisonous snakes, lizards, and such birds as falcons, eagles, grouse, and partridges all occupy the arid habitats in the interiors of the peninsula.

Black cobras, Carpet vipers, and Horned Vipers are among the highly poisonous snakes of the region. The coral reefs along the peninsula's costs also house a rich diversity of marine plant and animal species. 1. Environmental Threats and Territorial Disputes The strategic location of the Sinai Peninsula often renders it as a hotbed of military activities, with major powers trying to capture control over the region for reaping its many prospective economic benefits. Currently, however, one of the greatest threats to the peninsula comes from ISIS-linked militants, who are waging a guerrilla-style war against the Egyptian military forces in the peninsula. The peninsular routes have also been used by African immigrants from Sudan and Eritrea to enter Israel, causing much trouble for Israel, and forcing it to tighten security around its borders. The drug smuggling trade which is active in the region also creates nuisances for law enforcement in Egypt as well as well as Israel, and many cases of violence are linked to such illegal activities. As a consequence of the Egyptian and Israeli occupancy with solving political and military threats in the region, unfortunately not much attention is being paid to the rapidly disappearing flora and fauna of the region.

This page was last modified on June 6, 2016. On WorldAtlas.com Geography of Egypt, Landforms - World Atlas Print this map Most of Egypt is covered by the low-lying sand dunes and depressions of the Western and Libyan Deserts. East of the Nile River, the semi-arid Arabian Desert extends to the edges of the Red Sea . In the far southwest, the land rises into the Gilf Kebir Plateau, with elevations near 2,000 ft. (609 m) Sandstone plateaus front the Nile and the Red Sea, with cliffs as high as 1,800 ft. (548 m). In the far southeast, the Red Sea Mountains, an extension of the Ethiopian Highlands, continue on into Sudan . The country is dissected by the amazing Nile River , as it flows north to the Mediterranean Sea from it source in central Africa . The surrounding Nile Valley, 5-10 miles (8-16 km) wide, is the country's only fertile land. and home to 98% of the population. The Red Sea is extended into the Mediterranean by the man-made Suez Canal .

The Sinai Peninsula lies east of the canal, and this limestone plateau rises to Mt Catherine in the south, the highest point of the country at 8,652 ft (2,637 m). Lake Nassar, the largest lake, is man-made, and created when the Aswan dam was constructed, then finished in 1970. The lowest point of Egypt is the Qattara Depression at -436 ft (-133 m). Sinai Peninsula Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai (sina; Egyptian Arabic: سينا sina; Arabic : سيناء sina'a; is a triangular peninsula in Egypt . It lies between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, forming a land bridge between Africa and Southwest Asia. Its area is about 60,000 km². The Egyptians call it the "Land of Fayrouz", On the same linage of their ancestors who called Sinai "Dumafkat" which also means land of Fayrouz in Ancient Egyptian Language " History The Sinai was inhabited by the Monitu and was called Mafkat or Country of Turquoise.

From the time of the First dynasty or before, the Egyptians mined turquoise in Sinai at two locations, now called by their Arabic names Wadi Maghareh and Serabit el-Khadim. The mines were worked intermittently and on a seasonal basis for thousands of years. Modern attempts to exploit the deposits have been unprofitable. These may be the first known mines . The Mamluks of Egypt controlled the Sinai from 1260 until 1518, when the Ottoman Sultan, Selim the Grim, destroyed them at the Battles of Marj Dabiq and al-Raydaniyya. From then until the early 20th century, Sinai, as part of the Pashalik of Egypt, was under the control of the Ottoman Empire . In 1906 it became part of British -controlled Egypt, when the Turkish government yielded to British pressure to hand over the peninsula. The border imposed by the British runs in an almost straight line from Rafah on the Mediterranean shore to Taba on the Gulf of Aqaba . This line has served as the eastern border of Sinai ever since, and is now the international border between Palestinian territories and Israel from one side and Egypt from the other.

At the beginning of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Egyptian forces entered the former British Mandate of Palestine from Sinai to support Palestinian and other Arab forces against the newly declared State of Israel. For a period during the war, Israeli forces entered the north-eastern corner of Sinai. With the exception of the Palestinian Gaza Strip which came under Egyptian administration, the western frontier of the former Mandate of Palestine became the Egyptian-Israeli frontier under the 1949 Armistice Agreement. In 1956, Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal on the western side of the Sinai Peninsula and also used its control of the eastern side to impose a blockade on the Israeli port of Eilat. Following this, Israeli forces, aided by Britain and France (which sought to reverse the nationalization and regain control over the Suez Canal ), invaded Sinai and took control of much of the peninsula within a few days (see Suez Crisis). Several months later Israel withdrew its forces from Sinai, following strong American and Soviet pressure. Following this the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) was stationed in Sinai to prevent any military occupation of the Sinai.

In 1967, Egypt reinforced its military presence in Sinai, renewed the blockade on Eilat, and on May 16 ordered the UNEF out of Sinai with immediate effect. Secretary-General U Thant eventually complied and ordered the withdrawal without Security Council authorization. In response to Egyptian actions, Israel initiated the Six-Day War in which the Egyptian army was defeated, and Israel captured and occupied the entire Peninsula. The Suez Canal, the east bank of which was now controlled by Israel, was closed. In the Yom Kippur War of 1973, Egyptian engineering forces built pontoon bridges to cross the Suez Canal, and stormed the supposedly impregnable Bar-Lev Line while many Israeli soldiers were observing the holiday Yom Kippur . Though the Egyptians maintained control of most of the east bank of the Canal, in the later stages of the war, the Israeli military crossed the southern section of Canal, cutting off the Egyptian 3rd Army, and occupied a section of the west bank. After the war, as part of the subsequent Sinai Disengagement Agreements, Israel withdrew from the Canal, with Egypt's agreeing to permit passage of Israeli ships.

In 1979, Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in which Israel agreed to withdraw from the entirety of Sinai. Israel subsequently withdrew in several stages, ending in 1982. The Israeli pull-out involved dismantling almost all Israeli settlements, including the town of Yamit in north-eastern Sinai. The exception was Ofira, which became the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. The Treaty allows monitoring of the Sinai by the Multinational Force and Observers and limits the number of Egyptian military forces in the Peninsula. Present The Sinai Peninsula is currently divided among two Egyptian governorates, or provinces. The southern portion of the Sinai is called Ganub Sina in Arabic, literally "South of Sinai"; the northern portion is named Shamal Sina', or "North of Sinai". The other three governates converge on the Suez Canal, including el-Sewais, literally "the Suez"; on its southern end and crosses into African Egypt. In the center is el-Isma'ileyyah, and Port Said lies in the north with its capital at Port Said.

Approximately 66,500 people live in Ganub Sina and 314,000 live in Shamal Sina'. Port Said itself has a population of roughly 500,000 people. Portions of the populations of el-Isma'ileyyah and el-Suweis live in Sinai, while the rest live on the western side of the Suez Canal in Egypt-proper. The combined population of these two governorates is roughly 1.3 million (only a part of that population live in the Sinai, while the rest live on the western side of the Suez Canal). Over the past 30 years the Sinai has become a tourist destination due to its natural setting, rich coral reefs, and biblical history. Large numbers of Egyptians from the Nile Valley and Delta have moved to the area to work in tourism, while at the same time development has robbed native Bedouin of their grazing land and fishing grounds. This clash of cultures has resulted in the Sinai becoming the site of several terrorist attacks targeting not only Westerners and Israelis, but also Egyptians on holiday and working in tourism.

In order to help alleviate the problems faced by the Sinai Bedouin due to mass tourism, various NGOs have begun to operate in the region including the Makhad Trust, a UK charity who assist the Bedouin in developing a sustainable income whilst protecting Sinai's natural environment, heritage and culture. Sinai is one of the coldest provinces in Egypt because of its high altitudes and mountainous topographies, winter temperature in some of Sinai's cities and towns reach -16C and the topographic locations encourages to establish skiing resorts and construct teleferics routes. (Wikipedia) An affair to remember | The Economist The Suez crisis An affair to remember The Suez crisis of 50 years ago marked the end of an era, and the start of another, for Europe, America and the Middle East Jul 27th 2006 Tweet Corbis ON JULY 26th 1956 Gamal Abdul Nasser, president of Egypt, addressed a huge crowd in the city of Alexandria. Broad-shouldered, handsome and passionate, Nasser stunned even this gathering of enthusiastic supporters with the vehemence of his diatribe against British imperialism.

Britain had ruled Egypt, one way or another, from 1882 to 1922, when the protectorate gained nominal independence, and continued to influence Egyptian affairs thereafter, maintaining troops there and propping up the decadent monarchy overthrown by Nasser in 1952. In that speech in Alexandria, though, Nasser chose to delve back even further into history, in a long digression on the building of the Suez canal a century earlier. That gave him the chance to mention the name of the Frenchman who had built the canal, Ferdinand de Lesseps. This he did at least 13 times. “De Lesseps”, it turned out, was the codeword for the Egyptian army to start the seizure, and nationalisation, of the canal. It also launched the start of a new era in the politics of Europe, the Middle East and America. The Suez crisis, as the events of the following months came to be called, marked the humiliating end of imperial influence for two European countries, Britain and France.

It cost the British prime minister, Anthony Eden, his job and, by showing up the shortcomings of the Fourth Republic in France, hastened the arrival of the Fifth Republic under Charles de Gaulle. It made unambiguous, even to the most nostalgic blimps, America's supremacy over its Western allies. It thereby strengthened the resolve of many Europeans to create what is now the European Union. It promoted pan-Arab nationalism and completed the transformation of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute into an Israeli-Arab one. And it provided a distraction that encouraged the Soviet Union to put down an uprising in Hungary in the same year. It also divided families and friends, at least in Britain and France, with a degree of bitterness that would not be seen in a foreign-policy dispute until the invasion of Iraq in 2003. If that is difficult to understand, remember that the world was a different place then. Many European politicians still believed their countries had a right to run the affairs of others. Many were also scarred by memories of appeasement in the 1930s.

Faced with a provocation, even an entirely legal one involving the nationalisation of a foreign-owned asset like the Suez canal, the instinct of such Europeans was to go to war. They and their Israeli partners-in-invasion were restrained, eventually, by the United States, led by a Republican president and war hero, Dwight Eisenhower. The venture involved intrigue, lies, nemesis—and no end of a lesson. How did it come about? The road to collusion In Egypt, the British had become so resented for their racist, arrogant ways that by the early 1950s even Winston Churchill, the grand old imperialist who had returned as prime minister in 1951, felt he could resist the tide of nationalism no more. After 1951 the British were confined to the Suez canal zone, harassed by Egyptian irregulars who wanted them out altogether. By June 1956 the last British soldiers had left even the canal zone. Yet Anglo-Egyptian relations did not improve. Nasser was enraged by America's withdrawal of its offer of loans to help pay for the building of a dam on the Nile at Aswan. This project was central to his ambitions to modernise Egypt.

But John Foster Dulles, the American secretary of state, thought the dam would place too much strain on the resources of newly independent Egypt. For their part, the British, mistrustful of Nasser and feeling the pinch, were also ready to withdraw their loan offer. So, thought Dulles, best to let the Russians take on the dam, as he knew they would if the West backed out. He did not, however, bargain for Nasser's immediate response—the nationalisation of the Suez canal, whose revenues, Nasser argued, Egypt now needed to replace the loans promised by Britain and America for the dam. The reaction in Britain was unanimous in condemning “Grabber Nasser”, as the Daily Mirror put it. Comparisons were immediately made to Hitler and Mussolini in the 1930s: if he got away with this, where would he—and other emboldened post-colonial leaders—stop? Eden, who had succeeded Churchill as prime minister the year before, argued that the canal was Britain's “great imperial lifeline”, especially for oil. Nasser could not be allowed to have his hand “on our windpipe”. The French reacted just as strongly, but for different reasons.

First, they had a stake in the Paris-based company that ran the canal. Second, they were fighting an increasingly nasty little colonial war in Algeria. The new government of Guy Mollet was resolved to put down an Arab uprising there with all the force that the Fourth Republic could muster. By the summer of 1956 France had about 400,000 soldiers in Algiers. Nasser backed the Arab insurgents, so the French were as eager as the British to see the back of him. Accordingly, Britain and France started to co-ordinate plans for a military invasion of Egypt and a reoccupation of the canal zone. But their bellicosity was matched by the scepticism of the Americans, and of Eisenhower in particular, who from the beginning was against the use of force by his two main allies. One concern for him was the presidential election due that November, which he intended to win as the incumbent “peace” president. He knew that the voters would not thank him for taking them into a foreign imbroglio in which America had no direct interest. Eisenhower was also motivated by an anti-imperialism rooted in the attitudes that had made Americans break free from the British empire.

Intensifying his scepticism was a fear that, in the new cold war, any British and French bullying of Egypt would alienate Arabs, Asians and Africans and drive them towards the communist camp. To head off Anglo-French military action, Eisenhower and his secretary of state ensnared the Europeans in a fruitless round of talks and conferences. Aware that they were on shaky legal ground for an invasion, the British and French reluctantly played along. But they were losing the momentum for military action, which was the American intention. The increasingly histrionic Eden, in particular, wanted not only the reversal of the canal's nationalisation but also regime change: he wanted Nasser “destroyed”. The Israelis provided a way out. On September 30th a delegation secretly presented the French with a fabricated casus belli: Israel would invade Egypt and race to the canal. The French and British could then invade, posing as peacekeepers to separate the two sides, and occupy the canal, ostensibly to guarantee the free passage of shipping. When this plan was presented to Eden, he jumped at it. Thus was collusion born. The details were agreed on at a secret meeting in Sèvres, outside Paris.

Not for nothing is the Suez crisis known in Egypt as the “tripartite aggression”. The British and French forces now had a pretext to invade. For the Israelis, it would punish Egypt for its escalating incursions into Israel from Gaza. It would also hitch the major European powers to the cause of Israel: up to that point, the French had tried to be even-handed between Israel and its neighbours; the British had leaned towards the Arab states. A complete mess and botch Only a handful of people were let in on the collusion. Most of them thought it was mad from the start, arguing, quite correctly, that the cover for the invasion was so flimsy it would soon be blown. To disguise what was going on, the British, in particular, were drawn ever deeper into a bog of lies and deception, particularly with the Americans. Parliament was also deceived. Both Eden and Selwyn Lloyd, his foreign secretary, told the House of Commons that, as Lloyd put it, “there was no prior agreement” with Israel. On October 29th, Israeli paratroopers, led by a zealous officer called Ariel Sharon, were dropped into Sinai to fulfil their side of the bargain.

Feigning surprise, the British and French issued an ultimatum to both sides to cease fire. When the Egyptians rejected this, British planes started bombing the Egyptian air force on the ground and on November 5th Anglo-French troops went ashore to begin the invasion of the canal zone and, it was hoped, topple Nasser. Eisenhower, kept completely in the dark, felt utterly betrayed by his erstwhile allies. “I've just never seen great powers make such a complete mess and botch of things,” he told his aides. He determined to put a stop to the whole enterprise. America struck at Britain's fragile economy. It refused to allow the IMF to give emergency loans to Britain unless it called off the invasion. Faced by imminent financial collapse, as the British Treasury saw it, on November 7th Eden surrendered to American demands and stopped the operation, with his troops stranded half way down the canal. The French were furious, but obliged to agree; their troops were under British command. America also proved adept at working through the UN. On November 2nd an American resolution demanding a ceasefire was passed by a majority of 64 to five, the Russians voting with the United States.

And to sidestep Anglo-French vetoes at the Security Council, for the first time the General Assembly met in emergency session (where no country held a veto) and took up a Canadian suggestion to assemble an international emergency force to go to the canal and monitor the ceasefire. These were to be the first “blue hat” UN peacekeepers. The organisation was one of the clear winners of the crisis, gaining an enhanced role in the world. For the other participants in the drama, the consequences were more mixed. The French drew the clearest lessons. Suez showed that they could never rely on perfide Albion. Britain, then Europe's strongest power, would, it seemed, always put its “special” relationship with America above its European interests. And the Americans, to the French, were both unreliable and annoyingly superior. So the French would have to look elsewhere for more durable allies—a search that was, by one account, short. The story goes that on the evening of November 6th, when Mollet got the call from Eden that he was aborting the invasion, he happened to be with the German chancellor, Konrad Adenauer.

The French foreign minister, Christian Pineau, records Adenauer as saying that “France and England will never be powers comparable to the United States...Not Germany either. There remains to them only one way of playing a decisive role in the world: that is to unite Europe...We have no time to waste; Europe will be your revenge.” Thus was born the six-country European common market, which has now become the 25-country European Union. The founding Treaty of Rome was signed the very next year, in 1957. And the French, particularly Charles de Gaulle in the 1960s, kept the British, America's Trojan horse, out of it for as long as they could, until 1973. France had by then made itself truly independent of American military power (unlike the British) by building its own nuclear deterrent from scratch and, in 1966, leaving NATO's integrated command structure.

It should have been no surprise, then, that in the months before the invasion of Iraq in 2003, it was the French who played the American role of 1956, though Jacques Chirac could hardly deliver the coup de grâce, as Eisenhower had done in 1956. In reaction to Suez, France had constructed a new identity as the ostensible leader of Europe, upholding a set of universal values in competition with the Americans. The British were hurt most by Suez. Eden resigned soon afterwards, his health wrecked, his reputation in tatters, his lies and evasions damaging the country's always tendentious reputation for fair play. The crisis exploded Britain's lingering imperial pretensions, and hastened the independence of its colonies. Some talked of a “Suez syndrome”, where, in Margaret Thatcher's words, Britain's rulers “went from believing that Britain could do anything to an almost neurotic belief that Britain could do nothing”. Certainly, much of Mrs Thatcher's prime ministership, particularly the retaking of the Falklands in 1982, was an essay in exorcising the demons of Suez.

Tony Blair has not been afraid to take advantage of her success, by deploying British power in Sierra Leone, the Balkans and Iraq. But never without the Americans' support. The major lesson of Suez for the British was that the country would never be able to act independently of America again. Unlike the French, who have sought to lead Europe, most British politicians have been content to play second fiddle to America. Eden recuperated from the crisis in Ian Fleming's house, Goldeneye, in Jamaica. It was an appropriate choice, as it was Fleming who was to mythologise the new relationship in his James Bond novels. The first, “Casino Royale”, was published to little attention in 1953, but the series took off in the years after the Suez crisis, offering some sort of literary consolation to a country coming to terms with its new, humbler status. The partnership between Bond and Felix Leiter, a CIA agent, reflected the way the British now liked to see things, the one suave, smart and endlessly resourceful, the other with a lot of money and a slightly plodding manner. Eisenhower won his election in America.

The crisis affirmed the country's new status as the global superpower, challenged only by the Soviet Union. Suez was also to be the last incident in which America was to take strong action against Israel. As Eisenhower had feared, the Russians moved into the Middle East to fill the gap left by the disorderly retreat of the British, so the Americans felt compelled to get in as well. Thus the cold war spread to north Africa and Egypt (the Russians duly stepped in to finance the Aswan dam, and much else), and Israel became ever more closely tied to the United States. Before 1956, Israel had been militarily vulnerable, but, beyond the Arab world, morally and politically unassailable. The Israeli occupation of Sinai (and Gaza) in 1956 began the gradual inversion of this state of affairs, as it marked the first expansion of Israel beyond its original borders, with all the subsequent criticisms of its occupation of Arab or Palestinian land. In 1956 the Israelis were quickly forced to withdraw from Sinai by American (and Russian) pressure. Never again, however, would an American president face down Israel as Eisenhower had done at Suez.

The rise of Nasserism The chief victor of Suez, in the short term, was Nasser. Before the crisis he had faced lingering opposition in Egypt, not only from the former ruling class but also from communists and the radical Islamists of the Muslim Brotherhood. “Pulling the Lion's tail”, and getting away with it, proved wildly popular. As dissidents fled, fell silent or filled its jails, Nasser's Egypt projected itself as the vanguard of Arab nationalism and a beacon to liberation movements across the third world. Puffed up by his own success, Nasser launched misguided adventures such as a short-lived political union with Syria and disastrous nationalisations of Egyptian industry. And the Nasserist dream inspired a wave of pan-Arab nationalism that helped install lookalike leaderships, with similar flags, propaganda and secret police, across much of the Arab world. Saddam Hussein was one who drew inspiration. Nasser himself was largely discredited by Israel's crushing victory in the 1967 war, but the institutions of Nasserism still lived on, in Egypt and elsewhere, as effective systems of political control.

No end of lessonsAFP Nasser's 1956 triumph endured in Arab memory as a moment of cathartic liberation. It inspired, to some extent, Saddam's dramatic moves, such as invading Iran and later Kuwait. A famous Egyptian film, “Nasser 56”, lingers nostalgically over the Egyptian leader. Amid rousing music, he is portrayed in black and white, shrouded in pensive solitude by a swirl of cigarette smoke, reaching his momentous decision to nationalise the canal. But the film jumps to the happy outcome, ignoring the fact that Nasser's victory was not won by this new Arab superman, but delivered by superpower intervention. A wider lesson lies in the interpretation of history. Eden, who had honourably resigned as foreign secretary in 1938 in disapproval of the appeasement of Hitler and, especially, Mussolini, was nonetheless haunted by Neville Chamberlain's readiness to yield to tyrants. His impulses at Suez were surely complex. Eden was far from anti-American or indifferent to American concerns. He had resigned in 1938 partly because he thought his prime minister, Chamberlain, had treated Roosevelt shabbily.

Yet he saw Nasser as a “Mussolini” and was plainly determined to avoid any charge of appeasement, even though the essential features of Munich and Suez were wholly different. Instead of saying that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it, George Santayana might have better said that those who misinterpret the past are condemned to bungle the present.

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imedia Commons By Pierre-Louis Caron August 6, 2015 | 9:10 pm Egypt has officially unveiled a major new expansion of the Suez Canal — the strategic maritime passage that connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.

An opening ceremony held Thursday and attended by foreign leaders and international dignitaries marked the end of a major expansion project that Egypt's government hopes will revive the country's economy, which has been left in tatters by four years of political unrest. French President François Hollande, King Abdullah of Jordan, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, and Greek Premier Alexis Tsipras joined Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as he officially opened the historic canal's new lane, which authorities have dubbed "Egypt's gift to the world." During the ceremony, Sisi honed in on the country's fight against terrorism, saying Egypt would overcome these threats. "Work did not take place in normal circumstances, and these circumstances still exist and we are fighting them and we will defeat them," Sisi said at the opening. "Egypt during this year stood against the most dangerous terrorist threat that would burn the world if it could." The New branch of the Suez by lemondefr According to government projections, the expansion is expected to double the revenue generated by the canal. "It's a colossal [project]," said Yves Bouvart, former director of the western French port of La Rochelle, and currently a ports consultant at the Sorbonne in Paris.

Speaking to VICE News, Bouvart likened the project to "turning a road with traffic lights into a toll highway." Opened in 1869 after 10 years of construction, the Suez Canal is the fastest trade route between Europe and Asia and is an "unavoidable crossing" for many international carriers, said Bouvart. In 1867, French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi unveiled a design for a giant statue of a woman brandishing a torch to symbolize "Egypt bringing light to Asia" through the canal. Local support for the statue waned eventually and it ultimately ended up in New York harbor in 1886, and was renamed the Statue of Liberty . In July 1956, the canal became the symbol of Egyptian nationalism when then-president Gamal Abder Nasser triggered a diplomatic crisis by wresting the waterway back from the companies that controlled it and nationalizing it. In response, Britain, France, and Israel invaded Egypt, withdrawing only as a result of pressure from the US and the Soviet Union.

Today, more than 1,400 ships pass through the canal each month — a number the government hopes will double with the $8.5 billion expansion. The new lane, which increased the length of the canal from 101 to 123 miles, will be able to accommodate a wider variety of vessels, including Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) supertankers. Egyptian authorities expect revenue from the canal to increase from $5 billion in 2014 to $13.23 billion by 2023 — a prediction Bouvart qualified as "ambitious." Critics of the canal have challenged the government's revenue projections, and some have expressed doubt that the canal can revive the country's faltering economy.

"Just because 97 ships could pass through each day doesn't mean that 97 ships will, just overnight," said Bouvart, who described Egypt's investment as "risky." Revenue from maritime transport, he explained, is "highly dependent on the state of the global economy and on fuel prices." Since the popular uprising that led to President Hosni Mubarak's downfall in February 2011, and the July 2013 coup in which Egypt's military removed Mohamed Morsi — the country's first democratically elected president — the country has been mired in political strife and instability. Egypt is also struggling to cope with an escalating Islamic State (IS) insurgency. "The security aspect is a major challenge for the future of the Suez Canal," Bouvart told VICE News. Operating mostly in the Sinai Peninsula, which lies to the east of the canal, IS militants have recently threatened to kill a Croatian hostage abducted in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, if Muslim women aren't released from the country's jails. Bouvart also highlighted the threat of pirates, who operate in the Red Sea.

"The canal will attract better targets," he warned, adding that increased maritime traffic should go hand in hand with "an international effort to secure the area." Sinai Peninsula v1.0 Large - FilePlanet Sinai Peninsula v1.0 Large File Info: Sinai Peninsula v1.0 Large Title: /5.0 Description: Sinai Peninsula v1.0 Large An island/terrain for Operation Flashpoint Resistance. Wage war on the Sinai Peninsula and control the strategic waterway of the Suez Canal. The Lost Brothers: Sinai Peninsula v1.0 Large Included herein is Version 1 of the Sinai Peninsula, created over many hours by the talented hand of Panzerfaust, and all addons necessary to support Sinai Peninsula. This island/terrain is unlike most others made for OFP, in that it simulates the barren and open nature of the Sinai Peninsula. The odd rock out-cropping is found here and there, providing some cover, but terrain features themselves will need to be used strategically if you want to survive force on force encounters. There are urban environments that can turn into meat-grinders for all but the most highly-trained troops. Plenty of coastline is found, making amphibious insertions very friendly to those seeking to bypass large enemy concentrations.

Army posts and air force bases are laid out elaborately but orderly. The Egyptian mainland lies to the West, Saudi Arabia's coastline to the East, Israel to the North-East, and the Peninsula, itself, is the center of focus. This is the place that the newly-born nation of Israel received its laws through Moses, a prince of Egypt. The Suez Canal to the West is a major maritime waterway of great strategic importance. Despite the great heat, there are people who do live on this land-mass. Needed AddOns (all included):

Question: Which peninsula lies to the east of the Suez Canal?
Answer: Sinai Peninsula