The Bab el-Mandab has similar status in hominin origins, in appearing, on our modern
maps, to bring Africa close to Asia (the Arabian peninsula), yet having a firm water barrier
to migration. The Bab el-Mandab is the strait that connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of
Aden. The surface inflow is to the north. Although about 32 km wide, it is broken by Perim
Island (13 km2 with today a population of one thousand) which is 26 km from the African
coast and 3 km from the Arabian coast. No early cultural or human physical remains have
been recovered from Perim Island and the whole distance is over double that of the Strait of
Gibraltar.