Sanafir Island
| Disputed island Native name: Geziret Ṣanafir / جزيرة صنافير |
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Map of Tiran and Sanafir Islands
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| Geography | |
| Location | Red Sea |
| Coordinates | 27°55′48″N 34°42′36″E / 27.93000°N 34.71000°ECoordinates: 27°55′48″N 34°42′36″E / 27.93000°N 34.71000°E |
| Total islands | 1 |
| Area | 33 square kilometres (13 sq mi) |
| Highest point |
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| Administered by | |
| Egypt | |
| Claimed by | |
| Saudi Arabia | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | Uninhabited |
Sanafir Island (Egyptian: جزيرة صنافير Geziret Ṣanafir,pronounced [ɡeˈziːret sˤɑnɑˈfiːɾ]) is an island in the Straits of Tiran east of Tiran Island. It is administered by Egypt. It measures 33 square kilometres (13 square miles) in area.
On 9 April 2016, the Egyptian government declared that Sanafir and Tiran Island fall within the territorial waters of Saudi Arabia, as codified in the maritime border agreement signed with the government of Saudi Arabia on the previous day. However, the agreement must be ratified by Egypt's Parliament, and has reportedly been quashed by an Egyptian judge. The deal moves forward the idea of building the Saudi–Egypt Causeway. The deal has caused turmoil in Egyptian politics erupting mass protests that accused President Sisi of "selling" Egyptian land. An Egyptian court gave its final ruling in January 2017, rejecting the deal and affirming Egyptian sovereignty on both the islands.
In World War II, the Egyptian forces on Tiran and Sanafir islands were part of the Egyptian troops protecting Suez canal, according to Egypt's representative at the 659th UN security council meeting on 15 February 1954:
60. A disparaging reference has been made in this Council to Egyptians being on the two islands of Tiran and Sanafir on the Red Sea, islands which had been occupied by Egyptians long before the Israel armed forces advanced to the Gulf of Aqaba a few days after the signature of the Egyptian-Israel General·Armistice Agreement. Here I feel bound to state that the records of the Second World War contain official evidence that Egyptian units had been using these two islands as part of the Egyptian defensive system during that war. Egyptian detachments on these two islands co-operated with the Egyptian air force and the naval units entrusted at the time with the task of protecting Allied shipping in the Red Sea against submarine attack. While Egyptian air force units were covering the coast for Allied shipping in the Mediterranean, a force of 8,000 Egyptian troops undertook the defence of the entire length of the Suez Canal and its ports against continuous, hostile air attacks throughout the Second World War.
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Wikipedia