Five maps that show why the Red Sea is so important

It has borders with eight countries: Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti. At 438,000 square kilometres, it is equivalent to the entire land size of Iraq. It's not just a major shipping route but also a popular tourist destination, (worth $13 billion to Egypt in 2020), with a picturesque coastline of clear blue waters and coral reefs. The Red Sea can be accessed via two "choke points": Suez Canal from the north and Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, which means 'gate of tears' in Arabic, in the south. Both are narrow passages of water that large container ships must…