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Wadi Halfa Salient | |
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 Map of the claims of both Sudan and Egypt, the Wadi Halfa Salient is the elbow shaped area in the middle, colored in dark green. | |
  Wadi Halfa Salient Location between Egypt and the Sudan | |
| Coordinates:22°05′31″N31°24′20″E / 22.09194°N 31.40556°E /22.09194; 31.40556 | |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | +3 |
TheWadi Halfa Salient, named afterWadi Halfa, a nearbySudanese city 22 kilometers south of theborder, is asalient of the international border betweenEgypt and theSudan along theNile River to the north. The area is controlled by Egypt. The area (along with theHalaib Triangle andBir Tawil) is created by two different definitions of theEgypt–Sudan border: the "political boundary" set in 1899, and the "administrative boundary" set in 1902.[1]
In 1899, the border between theAnglo-Egyptian Sudan and Egypt was defined by thecondominium treaty to run along the22nd degree north oflatitude. However, access to the area north of the border along the Nile River and consequently the administration of the population of the area were easier from Sudan. Therefore, in 1902 a new administrative border was established, deviating north of the 22nd degree north of latitude along the Nile River, thereby placing this area under Sudanese administration.
Besides the Wadi Halfa Salient, there are two more areas where the administrative border deviated from the 22nd degree north of latitude, both to the east of Wadi Halfa: theHalaib Triangle on theRed Sea coast, north of the original 1899 border, and the much smaller area aroundBir Tawil, south of the original border.
Egypt claims the more favorable original border of 1899 along the 22nd degree north of latitude and therefore claims both the Halaib Triangle and the Wadi Halfa Salient, but not the Bir Tawil area. Since Sudan claims the amended border of 1902, it also claims the Halaib Triangle and the Wadi Halfa Salient, while no country claims the Bir Tawil area, making itde facto aterra nullius. While there have been disputes about the Halaib Triangle and military occupation by Egypt, the small area of the Wadi Halfa Salient remained out of the headlines because most of the area is flooded byLake Nasser.
The Wadi Halfa Salient is roughly 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) wide and stretches finger-shaped on both sides of the original course of the Nile 25 kilometres (16 mi) to the north into Egyptian territory, with a total area of 210 km2 (81 sq mi). Because of the construction of theAswan Dam and the flooding ofLake Nasser most of the area was flooded, affecting most of the villages of the area and the ancient city ofFaras. Some of the people were resettled toNew Halfa in theButana region.
After a detailed map of 1953, before the flooding, 52 villages could be counted in the area, of which 24 were west of the Nile River (17 with names on the map), and 29 east of the river (12 with names), and one unnamed village on the Faras Island in the river. The largest town and only one with a population exceeding 2000 wasDubayrah (Arabic:دبيرة).[2]
A land area of only about 30 to 40 km2 (12 to 15 sq mi) remains in the salient, most of it on the eastern banks, a desolate rocky area nearly devoid of vegetation. A superimposition of the map with currentNASA WorldWind satellite images shows the extent of flooding in the area of the salient. All villages shown on the map disappeared in thereservoir.
Countries and territories ofNorth Africa | |||||||||||||||||
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1Entirely claimed by both Morocco and theSADR.2Spanish exclaves claimed by Morocco.3Portuguese archipelago claimed by Spain.4Disputed between Egypt and the Sudan.5Unclaimed territory located between Egypt and the Sudan.6Disputed between South Sudan and the Sudan.7Part of Chad, formerly claimed by Libya.8Disputed between Morocco and Spain | |||||||||||||||||
