Red Sea Is a Natural Inlet, Not a Canal

The Red Sea is a saltwater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa (Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti) and Asia (Saudi Arabia, Yemen). It is a natural geological feature formed by the divergence of the African and Arabian tectonic plates. The Suez Canal (man-made) connects its northern end to the Mediterranean Sea. The Red Sea itself is not a canal—it is a 2,250-km-long, up to 355-km-wide, and up to 3,040-m-deep oceanic basin.