Gebel Elba or Elba Mountain is a peak and, in general, includes the associated mountainous area in the Hala'ib Triangle

Hala'ib Triangle

The Hala'ib Triangle is an area of land measuring located on the Red Sea's African coast...

 area. This area, despite being claimed by Sudan

Sudan

Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

, is currently under Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

ian control.

Geography

The higher peaks in the area are Gebel Elba itself (1,435 m), Gebel Shellal (1,409 m), Gebel Shendib (1,911 m) and Gebel Shendodai (1,526 m).

Average annual rainfall in the region is less than 50 mm, but orographic precipitation in and around Gebel Elba itself amounts to as much as 400 mm. in the upper areas. This phenomenon is caused due to the vicinity of the Red Sea

Red Sea

The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...

 coast (some 15–30 km east of the mountains) and also to the fact that the coast, slightly curved to the east at this point, presents an unusually broad front to the sea across a 20–25 km strip of relatively flat land
which facilitates interception of moisture-laden north-east sea winds.

This phenomenon is registered at its best in the northeast of the region, where Gebel Elba is located, which explains the fact that Gebel Elba receives higher precipitation than other coastal mountains in the range, including higher ones. Aridity gradually increases to the southwest of the area.

Ecology

Gebel Elba's summit is a “mist oasis” where much of the precipitation is contributed in the form of dew, mist and clouds, creating a unique ecosystem not found anywhere else in the country. Indeed, Gebel Elba is a “biodiversity
hotspot”, with a biological diversity unparalleled in any other terrestrial environment in Egypt. The relative abundance of moisture supports a diverse flora of some 458 plant species
– almost 25% of plant species recorded for the entire country.

Many Afrotropical elements have their northern limits at Gebel Elba, and the dense cover of acacias and other scrubs represents the only natural woodland in Egypt. There is at least one endemic species of plant (Biscutella elbensis).

The Gebel Elba National Park

National park

A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...

, declared by Egypt in 1986, covers some 3,560,000 hectare

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

s, including most of the disputed Hala'ib Triangle (except its westernmost corner), and an area of comparable size just north of it.