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The Bab Iskender (Arabic: باب اسكندر Iskander's Strait, also variously known as the Eastern strait, the small strait, the narrow pass or the small pass, is the eastern section of the Bab-el-Mandeb straits, which separates Ras Menheli, Yemen, on the Arabian Peninsula from Ras Siyyan, Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa. The strait is 2 miles (3.2 km) wide and 16 fathoms (29 m) deep. The Yemeni island of Perim divides the strait into two channels, Bab Iskender and Dact-el-Mayun respectively.[1]
The western section of the straits, Dact-el-Mayun, (also known as the Western strait, the large strait, the large pass or the wide pass) has a width of about 16 miles (26 km) and a depth of 170 fathoms (310 m).[1] The straits are about 20 miles (32 km) wide in total.
Near the African coast lies a group of smaller islands known as the Seven Brothers.
References
- ^ a b William James Lloyd Wharton, John Phillips (1900), The Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Pilot page 230. Great Britain Hydrographic Office.
12°40′N 43°27′E / 12.667°N 43.450°E