Download This Sample
This sample is exclusively for KidsKonnect members!
To download this worksheet, click the button below to signup for free (it only takes a minute) and you'll be brought right back to this page to start the download!
Sign Me Up
Table of Contents
The Red Sea is a large body of saltwater located between Africa and Asia. Being the saltiest of all the seas, the Red Sea connects to the ocean without even one river flowing into the sea.
See the fact file below for more information on the Red Sea or alternatively, you can download our 20-page Red Sea worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information
INTRODUCTION
- The Red Sea is one of the most heavily traveled waterways in the world. A large number of goods are transported between several countries through the Red Sea.
- It is also a historically important body of water that is regarded as the northernmost tropical sea in the world.
- The Red Sea makes contact with the Indian Ocean on its southern end, while at its extreme north, there lies the Sinai Peninsula and the Suez Canal.
- It measures 355 km at its maximum width, and the deepest point has been recorded to be over two kilometers deep.
BORDERS
- The countries bordering the Red Sea on the northern shore are Egypt, Israel, and Jordan.
- The countries bordering the Red Sea on the eastern shore are Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
- The countries bordering the Red Sea on the western shore are Sudan, Egypt, and Eritrea.
- The countries bordering the Red Sea on the southern shore are Djibouti and Eritrea.
- The Red Sea connects to the ocean through the Bab el Mandeb Sound and the Gulf of Aden in the south and through the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez (leading to the Suez Canal) in the north.
NAMES
- The Red Sea is called Bahr al-Ahmar in Arabic, which literally means “Arabian Gulf”.
- The Red Sea is a direct translation of the Greek name, Erythra Thalassa. The sea itself was once related to the Erythraean Sea by Europeans.
- There is a popular hypothesis that the name of the sea may signify the seasonal blooms of the red-colored Trichodesmium erythraeum (filamentous cyanobacteria) near the water’s surface.
- A theory favored by some modern scholars state that some Asiatic languages used color words to refer to the cardinal directions, wherein the name red is referring to the direction south, just as the Black Sea’s name may refer to the north.
- The union of the Red Sea with the Biblical account of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea is ancient and was made clear in the Septuagint translation of the Book of Exodus from Hebrew to Koine Greek. In that version, the Yam Suph is translated as Erythra Thalassa (Red Sea).
- In English, the Red Sea, together with the Black Sea, White Sea, and Yellow Sea are the four seas named after common colors.
HISTORY
- Ancient Egyptians conducted the first known exploration expeditions of the Red Sea by seeking to establish commercial routes to Punt. One such expedition started around 2500 B.C.
- The Biblical book of Exodus reveals the story of the Israelites’ miraculous crossing of a body of water, which the Hebrew text calls Yam Suph, traditionally translated as the Red Sea. The account is told in Exodus 13:17—15:21, in which the crossing is part of the Israelites’ escape from slavery in Egypt.
- In the 6th century B.C., Darius I of Persia made the Red Sea his navigation project by locating many hazardous rocks and currents. Between the Nile and the northern end of the Red Sea at Suez, there was a canal built.
- In the late 4th century B.C., Alexander the Great continued the exploration process as he sent Greek naval expeditions down the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. Greek navigators remained to explore and compile data on the Red Sea.
- Henceforth, the Red Sea was one of the important waterways in the world, and it was used for trading and linking countries together across the centuries even until the present day.
WEATHER AND DEPTH
- The climate of the Red Sea is the result of two different monsoon seasons – a northeasterly monsoon and a southwesterly monsoon. Its weather tends to be warm in summer (34°C) and cold in winter (28°C).
- The Red Sea’s average depth is 490 meters, and the maximum depth is 2,211 meters in a spot that is located north of the Straits of Tiran.
INTERESTING FACTS
- The Red Sea is an important hotspot for scuba diving and snorkeling due to the rich variety of its underwater ecosystem. The sea is home to more than 1,200 species of fish and 44 species of sharks.
- The fastest fish in the world lives in the Red Sea. The “solitary sailfish” can swim at speeds of up to 68 miles per hour.
- The coral reef ecosystem of the Red Sea stretches for 1,240 miles along the coastline and is up to 7,000 years old in parts.
- The Red Sea is about 35% saltier than most other seas, which provides unique health benefits.
- The Red Sea is easy for people to float in, just like the Dead Sea, because of the high saline concentration.
Red Sea Worksheets
This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Red Sea across 20 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Red Sea worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Red Sea which is a large body of saltwater located between Africa and Asia. Being the saltiest of all the seas, the Red Sea connects to the ocean without even one river flowing into the sea.
Complete List Of Included Worksheets
- Red Sea Facts
- Red Sea Acrostics
- Red Sea Other Names
- Navigational Role
- Only Red Sea
- Red Sea the History
- Red Sea Map
- Four Color Seas
- To Do List
- Diverse Ecosystem
- Red Sea Representation
Link/cite this page
If you reference any of the content on this page on your own website, please use the code below to cite this page as the original source.
Link will appear as Red Sea Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, October 27, 2020
Use With Any Curriculum
These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.