The Red Sea coastal desert is

deserts and xeric shrublands Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (ancient Greek xērós, “dry") shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this h ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

and Sudan.

Geography

The Red Sea coastal desert extends north and south along the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

and

Gulf of Suez The Gulf of Suez ( ar, خليج السويس, khalīǧ as-suwais; formerly , ', "Sea of Calm") is a gulf at the northern end of the Red Sea, to the west of the Sinai Peninsula. Situated to the east of the Sinai Peninsula is the smaller Gulf of ...

, which bound it on the east. It includes both a narrow coastal strip and the

Red Sea Hills Itbāy ( ar, اطبيه) or ʿAtbāy is a region of southeastern Egypt and northeastern Sudan. It is characterized by a chain of mountains, the Red Sea Hills, running north–south and parallel with the Red Sea. The hills separate the narrow c ...

, a range of coastal mountains that runs parallel to the coast. The Egyptian portion is bounded on the west by the

Eastern Desert The Eastern Desert (Archaically known as Arabia or the Arabian Desert) is the part of the Sahara desert that is located east of the Nile river. It spans of North-Eastern Africa and is bordered by the Nile river to the west and the Red Sea an ...

, part of the hyper-arid Sahara Desert ecoregion. The Sudanese portion is bounded by the South Saharan steppe on the west, and by the

Sahelian Acacia savanna The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid cli ...

to the south.

Climate

Most precipitation comes in the winter months. Rainfall is as little as 3 mm along the coast. Rainfall is higher on the eastern slopes of the mountains, which intercept periodic moisture-bearing winds which create fog precipitation and occasional heavy rainstorms.

Flora

Vegetation includes mangrove swamps and salt marshes along the shore, sparse shrublands along the coast, and dry woodlands in stream valleys. Lusher woodlands and shrublands occur in areas with higher rainfall and mountain mists, and along mountain streams. Jebel Elba, a mountain lying near the coast in the border region contested between Egypt and Sudan, supports the most diverse plant life in the ecoregion.

Fauna

The mountains are home to the

aardwolf The aardwolf (''Proteles cristata'') is an insectivorous species of hyena, native to East and Southern Africa. Its name means "earth-wolf" in Afrikaans and Dutch. It is also called maanhaar-jackal (Afrikaans for " mane-jackal"), termite-eat ...

''(Proteles cristatus)'' endangered Nubian ibex ''(Capra nubiana)'', and

Barbary sheep The Barbary sheep (''Ammotragus lervia''), also known as aoudad (pronounced �ɑʊdæd is a species of caprine native to rocky mountains in North Africa. While this is the only species in genus ''Ammotragus'', six subspecies have been descri ...

''(Ammonotragus lervia)''. Other mammals include the

Dorcas gazelle The dorcas gazelle (''Gazella dorcas''), also known as the ariel gazelle, is a small and common gazelle. The dorcas gazelle stands about at the shoulder, with a head and body length of and a weight of . The numerous subspecies survive on vegeta ...

''(Gaella dorcas)'',

pale fox The pale fox (''Vulpes pallida'') is a species of fox found in the band of African Sahel from Senegal in the west to Sudan in the east. It is one of the least studied of all canid species, in part due to its remote habitat and its sandy coat th ...

''(Vulpes pallida)'', and

rock hyrax The rock hyrax (; ''Procavia capensis''), also called dassie, Cape hyrax, rock rabbit, and (in the King James Bible) coney, is a medium-sized terrestrial mammal native to Africa and the Middle East. Commonly referred to in South Africa as the da ...

''(Procavia capensis)''.

Protected areas

Protected areas in the ecoregion include Wadi El Gamal National Park in Egypt, and Gabal Elba National Park in the disputed Egypt-Sudan border region currently administered by Egypt.

References

{{reflist Deserts and xeric shrublands Ecoregions of Egypt Ecoregions of Sudan Palearctic ecoregions