is a triangle-shaped peninsula lying between the Mediterranean Sea (to the north) and Red Sea (to the south), located in Egypt. It has an area of about 60,000 square kilometers.
The Sinai Peninsula is in Southwest Asia (the more geographically accurate term for the term Middle East) while the rest of Egypt is in North Africa. For geopolitical purposes, the Sinai is often considered part of Africa.
The Sinai is mostly high mountains, including Mount Catherine, the highest mountain in Egypt
The Sinai Peninsula is currently divided among several governorates, or provinces, of Egyptian administration. The southern portion of the Sinai is called Janub 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 As Sowais, literally "the Suez"; on its southern end and crosses into Egypt-proper. In the center is Al Isma'iliyah, and Bur Sa'id lies in the north with its capital at Port Said
Approximately 66,500 people live in Janub Sina' and 314,000 live in Shamal Sina'. Port Said itself has a population of roughly 500,000 people. Portions of the populations of Al Isma'iliyah and As Suways 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). |
