Beautiful Gulf of Aden

The Gulf of Aden, formerly known as the Gulf of Berbera, is a deepwater gulf amidst Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea and Guardafui Channel to the east, Somalia to the south, and Djibouti to the west. In the northwest, it connects with the Red Sea through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, and in the southeast, it connects with the Indian Ocean through the Guardafui Channel.[1][2] To the west, it narrows into the Gulf of Tadjoura, in the Horn of Africa. The Gulf of Aden separates the Arabian peninsula with the Horn of Africa.

The ancient Greeks regarded the gulf was one of the most important parts of the Erythraean Sea. It later came to be dominated by Muslim conquerors, as the area around the gulf converted to Islam. In the late 1960s, the British military withdrawal of the Suez Canalled to an increased Soviet naval presence in the gulf area. The importance of the Gulf of Aden declined when the Suez Canal was closed, but it was revitalized when the canal was reopened in 1975, after being deepened and widened by Egypt.

The Gulf of Aden is integral to the petroleum industry due to the delivery of Persian Gulf oil. 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.[3] This route is often used for the delivery of Persian Gulf oil. making the gulf an integral waterway in the world economy.[4][5]Important cities along the Gulf of Aden include the namesake Aden in Yemen and the city of Djibouti.

Despite a lack of large-scale commercial fishing facilities, the coastline supports many isolated fishing towns and villages. The Gulf of Aden is richly supplied with fish, turtles, and lobsters.[6] Local fishing takes place close to the shore; sardines, tuna, kingfish, and mackerel make up the bulk of the annual catches. Crayfish and sharks are also fished locally.