Eilat

Mar Rojo

Eilat, a city in Western Asia, located on the

East
East and belonging to Israel, is the most
south of the country, located on the coast
meager Israel has over the Red Sea.
Its name derives from the biblical Flath,
usually identified with neighboring today
Agaba.
The Negev Desert, with inverted triangle
shape has to Eilat in southern apex, on the
Gulf of Aqaba coast and near the towns of
Taba (Egypt) and Aqaba (Jordan)

Eilat is a very recent, whose immediate

source is due to the wishes of the then
Prime Minister David Ben Gurion who
wanted to populate the Negev desert,
awarded by the UN partition Israel.
However, the past of this coastal area can
be traced back to the reign of Solomon, who
in the tenth century BC founded the port of
Ezion-Geber on the Red Sea coast to trade
with the countries of Ophir and Saba as
telling the Bible

After the war of independence of Israel in 1948,

Eilat became not only an important strategic
position, but also trade, for the fledgling country.
Egypt, violating international law, closed the Suez
Canal to Israeli flagships and the Straits of Tiran,
situated at the entrance of the Gulf of Eilat, thus
impidendo navigation Israeli ships to the Red Sea.
This blockade Israel hurt when accessing the
markets of East Africa and its access to oil supplies
in Southeast Asia, so that their ships had to turn to
Africa to access these resources. Following the
1956 Sinai war, Israel managed to break the
Egyptian blockade. This Eilat became established
over the years as a prime tourist center.

The scorching heat of the Negev, one of the most

barren deserts of the planet, is softened by the
coastal location of Eilat Red Sea waters help to
soften the high temperatures, the city enjoying a
suitable climate that has made it one of the most
important tourist attractions in Israel. The tourist
attraction is completed with the existence of coral
reefs, prized by divers and adventure expeditions
into the Negev.