The Seven Brothers Islands, also known as the Sawabi Islands or Seba Islands, is an

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

in the

Dact-el-Mayun The Dact-el-Mayun, also known as the Western strait, the large strait, the large pass or the wide pass, is the western section of the Bab-el-Mandeb straits, which separates Ras Menheli, Yemen, on the Arabian Peninsula from Ras Siyyan, Djibouti, ...

section of the

Bab-el-Mandeb The Bab-el-Mandeb (Arabic: , , ) is a strait between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa. It connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Name The strait derives its name from the dangers attendin ...

strait A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. The surface water generally flows at the same elevation on both sides and through the strait in either direction. Most commonly, it is a narrow ocean channe ...

(between 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''; T ...

and the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden ( ar, خليج عدن, so, Gacanka Cadmeed 𐒅𐒖𐒐𐒕𐒌 𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒗𐒒) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channe ...

). They are within the

Obock District The Obock Region ( aa, Rakaakay Obock, ar, إقليم أوبوخ, so, Gobolka Obokh) is a region in northern Djibouti. It has a land area of 4,700 square kilometres (1,800 sq mi), and had a population of 37,856 in 2009. It lies along the Red S ...

Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...

, and are a notable diving site. Even in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

publications, the group is often called by its French name, ''Sept Frères''.

Geography

The archipelago proper is a chain of six

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

s spanning about in a rough east-west line:
Sailing Directions (Enroute) - Red Sea and Persian Gulf
', page 162. National Geospatial Intelligence Agency pub. 172. Accessed 2012-07-6. * West Island, or Red Island (''H̱amra''), 62 m high * Double Island (''Ounḏa Dâbali''), 46 m high * Low Island (''Tolka''), 17 m high * Big Island (''

Kaḏḏa Dâbali Kaḏḏa Dâbali Island, often called Big Island, is a rocky island off the coast of Obock Region of Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the ...

''), 114 m high * East Island (''H̱orod le ‘Ale''), 83 m high * South Island (''‘Ounḏa Kômaytou''), 47 m high The "seventh brother" is not an island, but the volcanic hill at the northern tip of the Ras Siyyan

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

. West Island lies about east from the Siyyan

and northeast from the coast of Djibouti. All the islets are surrounded by reefs. All are brownish, except Big Island which is yellowish. There is a masonry marker on the summit of Big Island.

Climate

The warmest month of the year is July with an average temperature of 39.0 °C. The archipelago consists of the main island of

, the five smaller islands of Ounḏa Dâbali, H̱amra, Tolka, H̱orod le ‘Ale and Ounḏa Kômaytou, as well as small rock outcrops that are uninhabitable by humans but important for seabirds. The sky is always clear and bright throughout the year. The climate of Seven Brothers Islands is classified in the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

as BWh, meaning a desert climate with a mean annual temperature over 29 °C or 84 °F.

References

Islands of Djibouti {{Djibouti-geo-stub