Sinai Peninsula

Sinai Peninsula

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.