Gabal Elba ( ar, جَبَل علْبَة ' , ), or Elba Mountain, is a peak and, in general, includes the associated mountainous area in the Halaib Triangle of Northeast Africa. Despite being claimed by both

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

and

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

, the area is currently under Egyptian control.

Geography

The higher peaks in the area are Gabal Elba itself (), Gabal Shellal (), Gabal Shendib () and Gabal Shendodai (). Average annual rainfall in the region is less than , but

orographic precipitation Orography is the study of the topographic relief of mountains, and can more broadly include hills, and any part of a region's elevated terrain. Orography (also known as ''oreography'', ''orology'' or ''oreology'') falls within the broader discip ...

in and around Gabal Elba itself amounts to as much as . in the upper areas. This phenomenon owes to the vicinity of 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''; ...

coast (some east of the mountains) and also to the fact that the coast, slightly curved to the east at this point, presents an unusually broad front to the sea across a strip of relatively flat land, which facilitates interception of moisture-laden north-east sea winds. This phenomenon is registered at its best in the northeast of the region, where Gabal Elba is located, which explains the fact that Gabal Elba receives higher precipitation than other coastal mountains in the range, including higher ones. Aridity gradually increases to the southwest of the area.

Ecology

Gabal Elba's summit is a "mist oasis" where much of the precipitation is contributed in the form of dew, mist and clouds, creating a unique ecosystem not found anywhere else in the country. Indeed, Gabal Elba is a "biodiversity hotspot", with a biological diversity unparalleled in any terrestrial environment in Egypt proper. The relative abundance of moisture supports a diverse flora of some 458 plant species – almost 25% of plant species recorded for the entire country. Many Afrotropical elements have their northern limits at Gabal Elba, and the dense cover of acacias and other scrubs represents the only natural woodland in Egypt. There is at least one

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

species of plant ('' Biscutella elbensis'').

National park

The Gabal Elba National Park (), declared by Egyptian Prime Minister

Ahmed Nazif Ahmed Nazif ( ar, أحمد نظيف, ; born 8 July 1952) served as the Prime Minister of Egypt from 14 July 2004 to 29 January 2011, when his cabinet was dismissed by President Hosni Mubarak in light of a popular uprising that led to the Egyptian ...

in 1986, covers some , including most of the disputed Halaib Triangle (except its westernmost corner), and an area of comparable size just north of it. It is also known to potentially hold the last population of the Nubian wild ass. However, the purity of these animals is questionable. On December 16, 2014 an adult male

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, ...

was killed by a group of shepherds after it attacked their camel in Wadi Shalal, within in the region of

Halaib Halaib (also, Halayeb; ar, حلايب, Ḥalāyib ), is a Red Sea port and town, located in the Halaib Triangle, a area disputed between Egypt and Sudan. The town lies on the southern tip of what Egyptians refer to as the Red Sea Riviera ...

in the extreme southeast of Egypt. This was the first sighting of a leopard in Egypt since the 1950s.

References

External links

*
Ministry of Environment Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency - Natural Protectorates Description
{{authority control National parks of Egypt

Elba Elba ( it, isola d'Elba, ; la, Ilva) is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano Nationa ...

Territorial disputes of Egypt Territorial disputes of Sudan Red Sea (state) Red Sea coastal desert Red Sea Governorate 1986 establishments in Egypt Protected areas established in 1986 Nature conservation in Egypt