Major Straits of World

What is a Strait?

A strait is a natural narrow waterway that connects two large water bodies. In other words, it can be also be defined as a thin channel of the waterway which separates comparatively two enormous water bodies.

Difference between Strait and Isthmus 

Isthmus is just opposite to a Strait. A thin piece of land that connects two bigger lands is called Isthmus. For example, Isthmus of Panama connects North America and South America. A canal is generally built across an isthmus artificially to promote navigation from one part to other parts by water. Panama canal is such an example that connects Atlantic ocean to Pacific ocean.

Bering Strait

The narrow sea between the Bering strait connects Arctic ocean East Pacific ocean near the countries of USA (Alaska state) and Russia. In other terms it can also be said that this strait connects Asia to the America. It has been named after famous explorer Vitus Bering. At the narrowest point its width is 82 Km. On one side lies Cape Dezhnev, Russia while the other side lies cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, US. The international Date line passes through this states which makes either sides of the strait falling on different calendar dates.

Bosporus Strait

This strait connects Black sea to Marmara sea which in turn is connected to Aegean sea and then Mediterranean sea. In other words it can be also said that it provides a passage from Black sea to strategically most important European  Mediterranean sea. This strait partially separates Asia from Europe. It is also the world’s narrowest navigable strait. It is 31 Km long and average 3.3 Km wide. At the narrowest point the width is 800 m which makes this narrowest strait of world. It has average depth of about 65 mt. It is also known as Istanbul Strait and lies completely inside Turkish territory.

Dardanelles Strait 

It is also located in Turkey and lies just opposite to the Bosporus strait. It connects Aegean sea with sea of Marmara. It is around 60 Km long and just 1 km to 5 Km wide. It also forms a boundary line between Europe and Asia just like Bosporus strait.

Hormuz and Bab-el-Mandeb Strait

Hormuz strait connects Persian Gulf with Gulf of Oman and separates UAE and Musandam goveronrate of Oman in west to Iran in east. This is to note that Gulf of Oman is just a part of Arabian sea. Gulf of Oman which is itself a strip of water-body can also be called as strait separating Oman from Iran. Hormuz strait which is just 54 Km wide at narrowest point.  It is the strategically most important strait of the world as it controls the oil trade from the Gulf countries.

Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb separates Asia from Africa. In other words it can be said that this strait separates Arabian Peninsula from Somali peninsula. Precisely speaking it separates Yemen from Djibouti and Eritrea and connects Red sea with Gulf of Aden (part of Arabian sea).

Strait of Dover

This strait connects North Sea with English channel. Broadly speaking, it is the narrowest part of English channel which opens near the north sea. It separates Great Britain from France i.e. the mainland Europe. It is 33 Km wide and one can sea the opposite end with naked eye on a clear sunny day. On either sides lies Dover, county of England in north and Cape Gris Nez, Calais, France in south. Most of the swimmers who cross English channel use this strait for swimming across.

Gibraltar Strait

This strait connects the Mediterranean sea with Atlantic ocean. This strait geographically separates Europe from Africa. One side of the strait the strait lies Spain (Europe Continent) and on the other part lies Morocco (African Continent). This strait was called as Pillars of Hercules by Ancient Greeks. This strait is under administrative control of British (British overseas territory). The narrowest width of this strait (distance between Africa and Europe) is just 14.3 Km. Its depth varies between 300 to 900 mt. This is a strategic location as most of the international Cargo ship containers passes from this strait.

 

Malacca Strait

This strait separates Peninsular Malaysia from the Sumatra island of Indonesia. This strait connects Pacific ocean at its south-east end to the Indian ocean at its north-west end. It is about 800 Km long which runs from southernmost point of Thailand up to the peninsular Malaysia in east part and Indonesian Sumatra in west. Its width is about 65 Km. It provides a shorter route for ships travelling from Indian Ocean (Andaman sea) to South China sea and saves thousands of kilometres and this is the reason why it is one of the busiest waterways.

Palk Strait

It connects Bay of Bengal at northeast end to Gulf of Mannar at western end. It separates Pamban island of Rameshwaram district, India from Mannar island of Sri Lanka. Dhanushkodi (India) and Talaimannar (Sri Lanka) lies on the either points of this strait. This strait is about 60 to 80 km wide. The southwest part contains numerous low-rising islands and reefs which is known as Adam’s Bridge (Ramsetu). These islands makes the navigation of ships virtually impossible. Sethusamudram Project was Proposed to create a channel by cutting out a passage in Adam’s Bridge for easy navigation of Ships from Bay of Bengal to Gulf of Mannar. This project was opposed on religious grounds.

Sunda Strait

This strait connects Java sea to Indian Ocean and separates Java island of Indonesia with its Sumatra island. On either sides of this strait lies Cape Tua on Sumatra and Cape Pujat on Java island. The eastern part of the straight is very shallow and depth is nearly 20 m only making it very difficult for navigating large ships.

Strait of Tartary

Strait of Tartary is also called as Tartar or Tatar strait. This is located in East Asia (north Pacific ocean). This strait separates Sakhalin island from mainland Russia. This strait connects Okhotsk sea and sea of Japan.

 

 

 

Interesting Facts about Straits of World

• Longest straitof world – Strait of Malacca which separates Malay peninsula from Sumatra island of Indonesia. It is 800 Km long.
• Widest straitof world – Denmark strait (or Greenland strait) which separates Greenland from Iceland. It is 290 km wide at the narrowest point.
• Narrowest straitof world – Bosphorus strait, at the narrowest point the width is 800 m.
• Shallowest straitof world – Sunda strait, at the eastern part the depth decreases to about 20 mt making it very difficult for navigation.
• Strait that separates Asia from America – Bering strait.
• Strait that separates Australia from Tasmania – Bass strait
• Strait that separates Europe from Africa – Gibraltar strait