> Which body of water separates Africa from the Arabian peninsula?And the answer: the Red Sea. Photo credit: Dirgela [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Dirgela].As oneof the world's busiest shipping lanes, the Red Sea starts at the Suez Canal inthe north and ends at the Gulf of Aden in the south. The sea separates theAfrican coasts of Egypt, Sudan, and Eritrea from those of Saudi Arabia and Yemenon the Arabian peninsula. The Red Sea is a historic home to wonders both underwater and on land. Sometimesreferred to as the "Underwater Garden of Eden," the Red Sea is a highly saltyhabitat for the red algae blooms which give it its name as well as over 1200species of fish. The rich diversity is in part due to the 1,240 miles of coralreef extending along its coastline. These coastal reefs are also visited byspecies of Red Sea fish, including some of the 44 species of shark. The northernsection of the Red Sea has been named as one of the seven wonders of theunderwater world due to the extreme biodiversity of marine life there.Interestingly, a number of volcanic islands rise from the Red Sea. Although mostare dormant, the last eruption was in 2007, while new islands formed as recentlyas 2013. This is due to the fact that the Red Sea region is part of the Red SeaRift, where the African and Arabian tectonic plates pull apart and new oceancrust regularly forms.Did you know?One theory put forth by some modern scholars is that the name red of Red Sea isreferring to the direction south, the same way the Black Sea's name may refer tonorth. The basis of this theory is that some Asiatic languages used color wordsto refer to the cardinal directions. Herodotus, an ancient Greek philosopher andwriter, on one occasion uses "Red Sea" and "Southern Sea" interchangeably.