The Halaib Triangle is an area of land measuring located on the Northeast African coast of the Red Sea. The area, which takes its name from the town of Halaib, is created by the difference in the Egypt–Sudan border between the "political boundary" set in 1899 by the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium, which runs along the 22nd parallel north, and the "administrative boundary" set by the British in 1902, which gave administrative responsibility for an area of land north of the line to Sudan, which was an Anglo-Egyptian client at the time. With the independence of Sudan in 1956, both Egypt and the Sudan claimed sovereignty over the area. The area has been considered to be a part of the Sudan's Red Sea State, and was included in local elections until the late 1980s. In 1994 the Egyptian military moved to take control of the area as a part of Red Sea Governorate, and Egypt has been actively investing in it since then. Egypt has been recently categorical in rejecting international arbitration or even political negotiations regarding the area. The description of the area as a "triangle" is a rough approximation. The southern boundary follows latitude 22°, the northeastern consists of the Red Sea coast, and the northwestern is jagged. A smaller area south of latitude 22°, referred to as Bir Tawil, joins the Halaib Triangle at its westernmost point along the latitude lineneither Sudan nor Egypt claims Bir Tawil. The languages spoken there varies on local Beja, Arabic and English languages. Name Spelled in , lit. "Halaib Triangle"; pronounced in Sudanese Arabic , and in Egyptian Arabic . History On 19 January 1899, an agreement between the UK and Egypt relating to the administration of the Sudan defined "Soudan" as the "territories south of the 22nd parallel of latitude". It contained a provision that would give Egypt control of the Red Sea port of Suakin, but an amendment on 10 July 1899 gave Suakin to Sudan instead. On 4 November 1902 the UK drew a separate "administrative boundary", intended to reflect the actual use of the land by the tribes in the region. The 1902 border assigned administration of the territory of the Ababda tribe south of the 22-degree latitude line to Egypt, and gave to Sudan the grazing land of the Beja tribe north of the line to administer. The Sudan-administered territory comprised about 18,000 km2, including the towns of