Exploring Top 10 Famous Straits Worldwide
The strait is an area between two continents, or between a continent and adjacent coastal islands, or between islands. It is usually formed by long-term erosion of seawater through cracks in the ground, or by seawater flooding a sunken land depression. The strait is of great military and shipping significance. Today let’s take a look at some of the famous straits in the world.
1.Bering Strait
The Bering Strait is a strait between Cape Dezhnev, the easternmost point in Asia, and Cape Prince of Wales, the westernmost point in America. The depth is between 30 meters and 50 meters. This strait connects the Chukchi Sea (part of the Arctic Ocean) and the Bering Sea (part of the Pacific Ocean).
The Bering Strait is named after the Danish explorer Vitas Bering, who crossed the Bering Strait while serving in the Russian army in 1728. He was also the first person to cross the Arctic and Antarctic circles.
2.English Channel
The English Channel, also known as the Strait of La Manche, is a strait that separates France from the European continent and connects the Atlantic Ocean with the North Sea.
The strait is 560 kilometers long and 240 kilometers wide. The narrowest point, also known as the Strait of Dover, is only 34 kilometers wide. Dover in the UK and Calais in France face each other across the sea.
3.Strait of Malacca
The Strait of Malacca is a strait between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is jointly governed by Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
The strait has a total length of 1,080 kilometers and a maximum width of 370 kilometers. It is an international waterway connecting the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
The number of oil tankers entering the South China Sea through the Strait of Malacca is three times that through the Suez Canal and five times that through the Panama Canal. The Strait of Malacca is a major energy transportation channel for China, Japan and South Korea.
4.Strait of Magellan
The Strait of Magellan is a strait located in southern Chile, South America, between the Tierra del Fuego Islands in the south and the South American continent in the north.
The Strait of Magellan is calmer than the Drake Strait and is considered the most important natural channel between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. However, it is still difficult for ships to navigate due to the long-term difficulty in predicting wind direction and currents and the narrowness of the strait.
Until the completion of the Panama Canal in 1914, the Strait of Magellan remained the only safe passage between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, except for the very narrow Beagle Channel.
5.Turkish Straits
The Turkish Strait, also known as the Black Sea Strait, is the only channel connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of three parts: the Bosporus Strait, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles Strait, with a total length of 345 kilometers.
6.Strait of Hormuz
The Strait of Hormuz is a strait connecting the Persian Gulf, an important oil producing area in the Middle East, and the Indian Ocean. It is also the only waterway entering the Persian Gulf.
Most of the oil from the oil-producing countries along the Gulf coast is transported to Western Europe, Australia, Japan, the United States and other places through this strait, accounting for 60% of the supply to Western oil consuming countries.
7.Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar is located between Spain and Morocco. It is the strait that separates the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The water depth is 300 meters and the narrowest point is 14.3 kilometers wide.
8.Mozambique Channel
The Mozambique Strait is located between Mozambique and Madagascar in southeastern Africa. It is about 1,670 kilometers long and is the longest strait in the world. The water depth in the strait is approximately more than 2,000 meters, with a maximum depth of more than 3,500 meters. Its depth ranks third among all straits.
8.Bab el Mandeb Strait
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is located between the southwest tip of the Arabian Peninsula in Asia and the African continent, connecting the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Indian Ocean. The climate here is a tropical desert climate, with hot and high temperatures all year round. The high temperature increases the evaporation of seawater, and there is little river water supply around it. As a result, the salinity of the seawater in the strait is above 38, making it the strait with the highest salinity in the world.
10.Taiwan Strait
The Taiwan Strait is the strait between Fujian and Taiwan that connects the South China Sea and the East China Sea. The average water depth is about 60 meters, and the deepest water depth is 88 meters. In addition to the coastal islands near Fujian, the islands in the sea include Penghu Islands and Xiaoliuqiu Island.