Edd is a town in the Southern Red Sea

Southern Red Sea

The Southern Red Sea Region of Eritrea is one of the six main regions of Eritrea. It lies along the southern half of the Red Sea, and contains the coastal city of Asseb. It borders the Northern Red Sea Region, and has an area of around 27,600km²....

 region

Regions of Eritrea

||At the time of Independence in 1993 Eritrea was arranged into ten provinces. These provinces were similar to the nine provinces operating during the colonial period. In 1996, these were consolidated into six regions...

 of Eritrea

Eritrea

Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...

. It is situated on the main highway that connects Asseb, the former province of Denkalia

Denkalia

Denkalia was a province of Eritrea until 1996, when it was divided between present day Northern Red Sea and Southern Red Sea regions. Its capital was Assab....

, and Massawa

Massawa

Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa (Ge'ez ምጽዋዕ , formerly ባጽዕ is a city on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. An important port for many centuries, it was ruled by a succession of polities, including the Axumite Empire, the Umayyad Caliphate,...

. The majority of the townspeople belong to the Afar

Afar people

The Afar , also known as the Danakil, are an ethnic group in the Horn of Africa. They primarily live in the Afar Region of Ethiopia and in northern Djibouti, although some also inhabit the southern point of Eritrea.-Early history:...

 ethnic group.

Overview

Edd was the first port that the French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 attempted to take possession of; their presence in the town proved ephemeral. A contract for its purchase, between representatives of the Compagnie Nanto-Bordelaise on the one side, and Sheikh

Sheikh

Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...

 Mahmud Hasan of Edd and Badri Ali on the other, dated 12 September 1840 survives.