No one is sure how the Red Sea got its name, but some people think it is because the water looks red during the summer when a reddish-brown algae floats on the surface.
The Red Sea lies between northeastern Africa and the Arabian peninsula.
The Suez Canal, at the northern end of the Red Sea, lets ships travel back and forth to the Mediterranean Sea.
At the southern end of the Red Sea, ships have access to the Indian Ocean.
At about 1,400 miles long (2,200 km), the Red Sea is one of the busiest waterways in the world.
The name Red Sea is a direct translation of the Latin words “Sinus Arabicus”, which literally means “Arabian Gulf”.
Some modern scholars believe that the name red is refers to the direction South, just as the Black Sea’s name may refer to North.
