Zula is a small town in Eritrea near the head of Annesley Bay (also known as the Bay of Zula) on the African coast of the Red Sea. Four km away is the archeological site of Adulis, an emporium and the port of Axum.

In 1857 an agreement was entered into by Dejaj Negusye, a chief of Tigre, in revolt against the Negus Tewodros II of Ethiopia, to cede Zula to the French. Negusye was defeated by Tewodros, and the commander of a French cruiser sent to Annesley Bay in 1859 found the country in a state of anarchy. No further steps were taken by France to assert its sovereignty, and Zula with the neighbouring coast passed, nominally, to Egypt in 1866. Zula was the place where the British expedition of 1867 — 68 against Tewodros disembarked, Annesley Bay affording safe and ample anchorage for the largest ocean-going vessels. A road was built by the British from Zula to Senafe on the Abyssinian plateau. The authority of Egypt having lapsed, an Italian protectorate over the district of Zula was proclaimed in 1888, and in 1890 it was incorporated into the colony of Eritrea.

Zula is also the name of a fine dining venue in Houston, Texas. Listed by the Zagat dining guide as one of the top 100 restaurants in the United States.