Taba Tourism

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Taba, in the eastern Sinai peninsula of Egypt, marks the location of the southern border crossing between Egypt and Israel, servicing travellers coming into Egypt and the Sinai via Eilat. The town has grown up around the border crossing and offers basic amenities for travellers - these will no doubt be greatly enhanced when a new "Taba Heights" development gathers pace. Taba is a relatively minor centre for Red Sea diving.

Taba was on the Egyptian side of the armistice line agreed to in 1949, and returned to Egypt when Israel withdrew from the Sinai in 1957. However, when Egypt and Israel were negotiating the exact position of the border in preparation for the peace treaty, Israel claimed that Taba had been on the Ottoman side of a border agreed between the Ottomans and British Egypt in 1906 and had therefore been in error in its two previous agreements.

After a long dispute, the issue was submitted to an international commission composed of one Israeli, one Egyptian, and three outsiders. In 1988, the commission ruled in Egypt's favor and Israel returned Taba to Egypt later that year.

As part of this subsequent agreement, Israeli travelers are permitted to visit Taba visa-free for up to 48 hours, making Taba a popular tourist destination.

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Places to see in Egypt

» Cairo & Giza » Alexandria » Sharm El Sheikh » Hurghada » Nuwebie » Saint Catherine » El Arish » Safaga » Mersa Alam

» Ras Sedr » Sinai » Luxor » Aswan » Mersa Matrouh » Oases » El Ain El Sukhna » Dahab » Taba

» The Red Sea » Sahl Hasheesh » Port Said » Rasheed » Siwa » The New Valley