Where is Bab el-Mandeb?
The strait between Arabia and the Horn of Africa, its name usually translated as the Gate of Grief, and the southern gateway to the Suez Canal.
The geography
Bab el-Mandeb lies roughly 2,000 nautical miles south-west of Hormuz, where the Arabian Peninsula comes closest to the Horn of Africa. Yemen holds the eastern shore, Djibouti and Eritrea the western.
Perim Island, also called Mayyun, sits in the middle of the passage and splits it into two channels. That is why the usable width is considerably less than 30 km suggests, and why Perim matters far beyond its size.
What it connects
North through the Red Sea lies the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean. South lies the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.
That makes it the southern gate of the Europe-to-Asia route. A container ship sailing Shanghai to Rotterdam passes Bab el-Mandeb, then the Red Sea, then Suez. Remove that route and it goes around the Cape of Good Hope instead.
How it differs from Hormuz
Hormuz is the only sea exit from the Persian Gulf. There is no way round it. Bab el-Mandeb does have an alternative, and that single difference explains most of how the two behave under pressure.
Disruption at Bab el-Mandeb is a cost and time problem: ships reroute, voyages lengthen. Disruption at Hormuz is a supply problem, because the cargo cannot leave at all. The full comparison is here.
Common questions
- Which countries border Bab el-Mandeb?
- Yemen on the eastern side, Djibouti and Eritrea on the western side.
- How wide is Bab el-Mandeb?
- Roughly 30 kilometres at its narrowest. Perim Island splits the passage into two channels, so navigable width in each is considerably less.
- What does Bab el-Mandeb mean?
- It is usually translated from Arabic as the Gate of Grief, or Gate of Tears.