Hala'ib Triangle

Coordinates: 22°28′09″N 35°31′23″E / 22.46917°N 35.52306°E / 22.46917; 35.52306
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Hala'ib Triangle
مثلث حلايب
Disputed territory
Coordinates: 22°28′09″N 35°31′23″E / 22.46917°N 35.52306°E / 22.46917; 35.52306
CountryAdministered by Egypt, claimed by Sudan.
Area
 • Total20,580 km2 (7,950 sq mi)
 • Disputed area20,580 km2 (7,950 sq mi)
Lowest elevation
0 m (0 ft)
Pastoral life in Hala'ib Triangle.

The Hala'ib Triangle (مثلث حلايب in Arabic, transliterated Muthāllath Ḥalāʾib) is an area of land measuring 20,580 square kilometres (7,950 sq mi) located on the Red Sea's African coast. The area, which is named after the town of Hala'ib, is created by the difference in the EgyptSudan border between the "political boundary" set in 1899 by the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium, which runs along the 22nd parallel north, and the "administrative boundary" set by the British in 1902, which gave an area of land north of the line to Sudan. When Sudan became independent in 1956, both Egypt and Sudan claimed sovereignty over the area. After Egypt sent military units to the Hala'ib Triangle in the 1990s, as part of a greater movement by the Egyptian government to solidify its presence in Africa, following the 1995 attempted assassination of then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Egypt has controlled the area as part of the Red Sea Governorate, and has been actively investing in it.[1] Today the United Arab Emirates is also a active investor along with Egypt in the area.[2]

The area is not shaped like a triangle—it is actually a complicated polygon. Only the southern 290 kilometres (180 mi) border is a straight line. A smaller area, called Bir Tawil, touches the Hala'ib Triangle at its westernmost point. Bir Tawil is not claimed by either Sudan or Egypt.[3]

References[change | change source]

  1. ""CIA World Fact Book - Egypt"". Archived from the original on 2015-08-12. Retrieved 2012-04-23.
  2. "UAE controls resources of Sudanese land occupied by Egypt, claims documentary". Middle East Monitor. 2017-11-29. Retrieved 2022-11-04.
  3. "Colonial Egypt" 1912 map