High resolution synoptic hydrographic surveys carried out during 1982 to 1987 are used to delineate the two-dimensional baroclinic flow pattern of the Red Sea. it is shown that the circulation can be characterized through a succession Of four gyres, some 200 km in diameter, the locations of which are linked to the major topographic basins of the Red Sea. The gyres have a transport almost an order of magnitude larger than the large-scale thermohaline driven flow. They appear to be forced by the strongly rotational wind field over the Red Sea.