<P> The southern side of the peninsula has a sharp escarpment that subsides after a narrow coastal shelf that slopes into the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba . The elevation of Sinai 's southern rim is about 1,000 m . Moving northward , the elevation of this limestone plateau decreases . The northern third of Sinai is a flat , sandy coastal plain , which extends from the Suez Canal into the Gaza Strip and Israel . </P>
which two bodies of water give the sinai peninsula its triangular shape
Red Sea Gulf of Aqaba