The Horn of Africa (, , yäafrika qänd, al-qarn al-'afriqi, ) (shortened to HOA; alternatively Somali Peninsula) is a peninsula in Northeast Africa. It juts hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. The area is the easternmost projection of the African continent. Referred to in ancient and medieval times as Bilad al Barbar ("Land of the Berbers"), the Horn of Africa denotes the region containing the countries of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia.