Straits
Straits are formed by long-term erosion of sea water through the cracks in the isthmus, or seawater floods the sinking low-depression of land. Because its geographical location is particularly important, it has always been a must-fight place for military strategists.
Therefore, people often call it "sea corridor" and "golden waterway".
Turkish Strait
What are the types of Straits?
World Strait Map
Straits are usually located between two continents or continents and adjacent coastal islands and islands. Some of them communicate with the two seas, such as Taiwan Strait , and East China Sea and the South China Sea; some communicate with the two oceans, such as Magellan Strait , and the Atlantic Ocean; some communicate with the seas and oceans, such as the Strait of Gibraltar, and the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean.
Two Brother Island
There are thousands of straits around the world, of which about 50 are famous. According to the relationship between the strait waters and coastal countries, it is divided into:
Inner Sea Strait, located within the baseline of the territorial sea, and is the internal water of the coastal countries. The navigation system is formulated by the coastal countries themselves, such as the Qiongzhou Strait in China.
Qiongzhou Strait
Territory Sea Strait, whose width is within the width of the territorial sea on both sides of the strait, is usually allowed to enjoy the right of harmless passage. If the two sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to two countries, usually their boundary line passes through the central channel of the strait, and their navigation system is determined by consultation between the coastal countries; if it is an internationally navigable strait, the transit system is applicable.
Non-territorial sea straits, with a width greater than the width of the territorial sea on both sides of the straits. In the waters of the straits located outside the territorial sea, all ships can pass freely.
Coastal and oceanic landforms
6 The sixteen straits in the world control the throat of the world
Below, let's take you to take a look at the 16 famous straits in the world and their countries along the straits.
Nanyang Islands
1Bashi Strait (China-Philippines)
Bashi Strait is a strait connecting the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea, located between the island of Taiwan and the Bataan Islands. In order to connect the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea, it is also a strategically important sea area in the Western Pacific, ships sail very busy. The strait is about 185 kilometers wide on average, with a water depth generally ranging from 2,000 to 5,000 meters, and a deepest point of 5,126 meters. The seabed topography has greatly fluctuated and varies. It mainly extends eastward in the South China continental shed, and there are Lanyu ridge, Taitung trough, Huadong ridge and Manila trench distributed in parallel from east to west to north to north. The ridge depth is between 2400 and 2600 meters. The seabed sediments are mainly powdery sandy. In addition, due to the geological interaction between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian continental plate, Bashi Strait is also an earthquake-prone area. Bashi Channel is one of the big wave areas in the northwest Pacific Ocean and has a tropical marine climate. Affected by the inter-ocean and continental monsoons, the marine meteorological characteristics are high temperatures and rainy, with prevalent monsoons, frequent thunderstorms, and frequent tropical cyclones. It is also one of the paths for tropical cyclones generated in the Western Pacific to enter Asia.
Bashi Channel
North of Bashi Channel is Lanyu in Taiwan and the southern end of Taiwan, and the south of Hengchun Peninsula is Yami Island and the Bataan Islands. To the south of the Bataan Islands is Babuyan Islands, and further south is Luzon Island. The southern islands are all under the jurisdiction of the Philippines. The Bahraintang Strait is between the Bahraintang Islands and the Bahraintang Islands, and the Bahrain Strait is between the Bahrain Islands and Luzon Islands. The three straits are collectively called the Luzon Strait .
Luzon Strait map, the northern section is the Bashi Strait
2Malacca Strait (Singapore —Malaysia—Indonesia )
Malacca Strait
people are known as the southeast The "crossroad" of Asia's "Melaka" is located between the Malay Peninsula and the Sumatra Island. The total length of the strait is about 1,080 kilometers, the widest width in the northwest is 370 kilometers, and the narrowest point in the southeast is only 2.8 kilometers. It is an international waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, connecting the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, and is a linkage between East Asia, Southeast Asian countries and regions and South Asia, West Asia, Africa and European countries. The Strait of Malacca is named after the Malaysian ancient city of Malacca along the coast. The Strait is now jointly managed by three countries: Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. The strait is in the equatorial windless zone, and there are many calm days throughout the year. The bottom of the strait is flat, mostly silt and sandy, and the water flow is gentle.
The Strait of Malacca is an important international waterway, both economically and militaryally. It is a maritime transportation link that connects Europe, Asia and Africa. Its strategic position is very important. It is known as "Gibraltar in the East" . Its importance can be compared with Suez Canal or Panama Canal .
Malacca Strait
Malacca Strait is an important channel between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, connecting three large countries with a large population in the world: China, India and Indonesia. It is also an important channel for West Asian oil to East Asia. Japan, an economic powerhouse, often calls the Strait of Malacca as its "lifeline". It is also the only way for U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet ships to and from the Gulf, Hawaii and the West Coast.
3 Strait of Hormuz (Oman-Iran)
Strait of Hormuz
0 Most of the oil produced by the Gulf coast is transported to Western Europe, Australia, Japan and the United States through the Strait of Hormuz, and it bears a total supply of 60% of the Occidental oil consumer countries. People regard the Strait of Hormuz as "the lifeline of the Western world" .
Satellite map of the Strait of Hormuz
Strait of Hormuz is located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula in southwestern Asia. It connects Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea with the Indian Ocean. It is an important channel for oil exports of Persian Gulf and the only waterway entering the Persian Gulf. It is a world-famous oil strait. It connects to the Gulf of Oman in the east and to the Gulf in the west (Iranians call it the Persian Gulf and Arabs call it the Arabian Gulf), and is in a herringbone shape. The north shore of the strait is Iran, with Abbas Port . On the south bank of the strait is the enclave of Oman, Musandem Province, and to the south is the United Arab Emirates. There is a large island called Geshm Island on the middle of the strait near Iran, which belongs to Iran. Because it is a must-pass place between the bay and the Indian Ocean, the Strait of Hormuz is known as the "Gulf Throat" , and it has a very important strategic and shipping position.
The Strait of Hormuz is currently one of the busiest waterways in the world. According to statistics, an average of one giant tanker passes through the Strait of Hormuz every 8 minutes. Therefore, the Strait of Hormuz is called "the throat of the offshore oil channel" and "the valve of the world's oil depot" .
Black Sea Strait
4 Black Sea Strait (Turkey)
Turkish Strait, also known as Black Sea Strait, consists of three parts: Bosphorus Strait (also known as Istanbul Strait ), Marmara Sea, and Dardanell Strait (also known as Canakale Strait). Connecting the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, is the dividing line between Asia and Europe, and it is also the only channel connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. The climate is Mediterranean. Throughout history, it has been a must-fight for military strategists, and its strategic position is very important.
Turkish Strait
The core of the Black Sea Strait is the Bosphorus, a strait between Europe and Asia. It is about 30 kilometers long, about 3700 meters wide at its widest point, and about 700 meters wide at its narrowest point.It connects the Black Sea in the north and the Marmara Sea in the south. Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey, faces the Asia Minor Peninsula through the Bosphorus Strait. It is the first pass to the Black Sea coast countries and the only waterway connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. Therefore, the Russian Black Sea Fleet must pass through the Bosphorus before it can head to the Mediterranean .
There are five transportation channels in the Bosphorus Strait, namely the Bosphorus Bridge used on the road, the Mohamed II Bridge, the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, the Eurasian Tunnel and the Marmare Tunnel used on the railway.
In 2001, the scrapped former Soviet Union's "Varyag" aircraft carrier was towed across the Golden Horn Bay by a tugboat.
During the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union established the Black Sea Strait as one of the most important maritime throats in the world. After the Cold War, NATO still regarded the Black Sea Strait as one of the strategic points of the Eurasian continent.
3D presents the Strait of Gibraltar, with the two sides of the Taiwan Straits of Gibraltar (left); Morocco and Ceuta (right).
5 Strait of Gibraltar (UK-Spain-Morocco)
Strait of Gibraltar
Strait of Gibraltar
Strait of Gibraltar is between Iberian Peninsula and the African continent, and is a strait that connects the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean. Located between the southernmost part of Spain and northwestern Morocco, Africa, it is 58 kilometers long; the narrowest part is between Cape Marocco in Spain and Cape Sires in Morocco, and it is only 13 kilometers wide. Its name is taken from Gibraltar, a peninsula in southern Spain. It is a gap in the arc-shaped tectonic belt formed between the Atlas Mountains in North Africa and the Spanish Plateau. It has an average depth of 365 meters, and the straits are mostly east or west winds. Because the strait has significant strategic and economic value, it was used by Atlantic navigators in the early days and is still an important route to Southern Europe, North Africa and West Asia through the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, people call it "the lifeline of the western sea" .
Strait of Gibraltar
Plan to build the Strait of Gibraltar passage was proposed as early as the late 1970s. In June 1979, the kings of Spain and Morocco met in Fez in Morocco and reached an agreement to study whether the channel was feasible. In October 1980, the two sides signed relevant scientific and technological cooperation agreements. The UK owns an overseas territory in the Strait of Gibraltar and has a Royal Naval Base.
English Channel
6 English Channel (UK-France)
English Channel
English Channel, France calls it Lamanche Strait . Between the Great Britain and the European continent, it is France that separates the United Kingdom from the European continent, connects the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, it is an important maritime channel for Western Europe and Northern Europe, and it is also the busiest freight and the most ships passing through the world. The strait is 560 kilometers long and 240 kilometers wide. Its narrowest water area is the Dover Strait, which is only 34 kilometers wide. Dover in the UK faces Calais France across the sea. There have been many military conflicts and naval wars here in history.
English Channel satellite map
Dover Strait, called the Strait of Calais in France, is the narrowest place in the English Channel. The shortest distance is from Nanfuran to Grinet. South Forland is 6 km northeast of Dover, and the Grine Cape is located on a cape in Calais. These two points are the most popular routes for cross-strait swimmers, with a total length of 33 kilometers.
English Channel Lighthouse
Most maritime traffic from the Atlantic Ocean to the North Sea or the Baltic Sea will pass through the Dover Strait, without choosing more dangerous and longer routes through North Scotland. The Dover Strait is one of the busiest international sea routes in the world, with more than 400 ships fixedly used every day.
Drake Strait
7Drake Strait (Chile )
Drake Strait wears two "world's best" crowns. It is located in the strait between Cape Horn in South America and the Southern Shetland Islands in Antarctica. It is part of the Antarctic Ocean. The strait is about 300 kilometers long from east to west and is the shortest distance between Antarctica and other continents. It is the deepest strait in the world. The strait is 3,400 meters deep and 5,248 meters deep. At the same time, it is the widest strait in the world, with a width of 900-950 kilometers from north to south and a width of 645 kilometers from the narrowest, making it an important channel to Antarctica all over the world. The local area is located at "Scream 60 degrees", which belongs to the sub-Antarctic territory. It is famous for its many storms. The sea surface has been quite harsh throughout the year, and it is one of the most dangerous waterways in the world. It is located between South America and Antarctic Peninsula , connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean. It is the boundary between South America and Antarctica. It is the only way for scientific expedition teams from various countries to go to Antarctica to conduct inspections.
Drake Strait
Strait is named after the discoverer of the 16th century British privateer captain Sir Francis Drake. Drake himself did not sail through the strait in the end, but chose to go through the calmer Magellan Strait.
Drake Strait between South America and Antarctica.
0 The late 19th and early 20th centuries, shipping was developed; it gradually declined since the Panama Canal was opened; since the rise of supertankers, the number of ships passing through the straits gradually increased.
Cape Horn-Strait Magellan
8 Strait of Magellan (Chile— Argentina )
Strait of Magellan is located between the South American continent and Tierra Tierra del Fuego, connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. It is an important international route in the world. It was named after the navigator Magellan first entered the Pacific Ocean in 1520. The fjord is winding, 563 kilometers long, and the narrowest part is only more than 3,000 meters wide. The straits connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean between the southern tip of the South American continent and Tierra Tierra is the channel connecting the South Atlantic and the South Pacific Ocean.
Magellan Strait
Magellan Strait is calmer than Drake Strait and is considered to be the most important natural waterway between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. However, due to the long-term unpredictable wind direction and sea current, and the narrow strait, it is still difficult for ships to navigate. Before the completion of the Panama Canal in 1914, the Strait of Magellan was the only safe navigation channel between the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean.
Taiwan Strait
9Taiwan Strait (China)
Taiwan Strait is a strait connecting the South China Sea and the East China Sea between Fujian Province and Taiwan Province of China. It belongs to the East China Sea, with a northeast-south-west direction, about 370 kilometers wide, narrow in the north and wide in the south, and a north entrance of about 200 kilometers wide; the south entrance of about 410 kilometers wide; the narrowest point is between Baisha Point of Taiwan Island and Haitan Island of Fujian, about 130 kilometers. Because it is near Taiwan, the largest island in our country, people call it the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan Island
Taiwan Strait, which runs across the southeast coast of my country, goes north from the South China Sea, or goes south from Bohai , Yellow Sea , and East China Sea. It must pass here, commonly known as my country's "maritime corridor". It is an important shipping route between the East China Sea and the South China Sea. The cold and warm ocean currents meet and the fishery products are abundant. The strait is the key to shipping between the East China Sea and the South China Sea and has important international shipping value. Most of the maritime exchanges between Northeast Asian countries and Southeast Asian countries along the Indian Ocean coast pass here and have an important strategic position.
Mozambique Strait
0Mozambique Strait (Madagascar -Mozambique)
Mozambique Strait is located between the southeastern African continent and the island of Madagascar, with a northeast-southwest slope. It is a waterway in the West Indian Ocean. It is the longest strait in the world. It is Madagascar in the east and Mozambique in the west. The Strait is a major maritime transportation route from the South Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean. A large part of the oil in the Persian Gulf needs to be transported to Europe and North America here, and its strategic position is very important. Especially before the Suez Canal was dug, it was the only way for the European continent to go to the East through the Atlantic Ocean, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Indian Ocean.
As early as the 10th century, the Arabs passed through the Mozambique Strait. In the 13th century, the Straits region once established the Makaranga Empire, which had a very developed economic and cultural heritage. Zheng He also visited the Mozambique Strait in his voyage to the West in the early Ming Dynasty.
Alaska and Bering Strait
1Bering Strait (Russia-US)
Bering Strait, also known as the Belarus Strait, has multiple duties. It is a water channel connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Arctic Ocean, and it is also the dividing line between two continents (Asia and North America), two countries (Russia and the United States), and two peninsulas (Alaska Peninsula and Chukchi Peninsula). The international date change line also passes from the center of the Bering Strait. Bering Strait is between the Chukoc Peninsula and the Alaska Peninsula. It is located between the Cape Dizhnev in Asia and the Cape Prince of Wales in the westernmost point of the Americas. The narrowness and shallow water of the strait weakens the exchange of deep water between the Arctic and the Pacific Ocean.
Bering Strait
This strait connects the Chukchi Sea (part of the Arctic Ocean) and the Bering Sea (part of the Pacific Ocean). Its name comes from the Danish explorer Vitas Bering. There is the Death Omid Islands in the middle of the Bering Strait.
Bering Strait Map
2Korean Strait (South Korea-Japan)
Korean Peninsula-Korean Strait
Korean Strait is a strait between South Korea and Japan. It connects the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan. It is an important channel for the Sea of Japan to the Pacific Ocean. It has two uses: broad and narrow.
The broad sense of the Korean Strait refers to the entire waterway located between the Korean Peninsula and Kyushu Island . North Korea calls the Korean Strait, South Korea calls the Korean Strait, and Japan is the Tsushima Strait.
Tsukema Strait
The narrow sense of the Korean Strait refers to the waterway between the Korean Peninsula and Tsukema Island, with a width of 67 kilometers and an average water depth of 95 meters. Both North Korea and South Korea are called the Busan Strait, while Japan is called the Korean Strait or the Tsushima Strait West Waterway.
Depth map of the Red Sea, the lower right corner is the Mande Strait
3 Mande Strait ( Yemen -Djibouti)
Mande Strait, also known as the Mandabu Strait, is a strait between Arabia and Africa. Connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, , , the Indian Ocean, is located at the southern end of the Red Sea, between Yemen and Djibouti.
Mande Strait between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, a strategic channel between Europe and Asia,
Its name means "Gate of Tears" in Arabic. Its legend is formed in an earthquake. Many people were drowned at that time. There are also saying that it is because the strait is complex, the reefs are dense, and the shipwrecks are numerous. The narrowest part of the strait is only 30 kilometers wide, which is divided into two by the small island Pilin Island. It is close to the eastern half of Asia, also known as the "Iskander Strait" (meaning the Strait of Alexander), 3 kilometers wide and 30 meters deep. The western half of the near Africa, also known as the "Ma Yun Strait" , 25 kilometers wide and 310 meters deep. Although the western half is much wider than the eastern half, there are a series of islands and reefs distributed in it, called the "Seven Brothers Islands", which greatly reduces the traffic capacity.
The western half of Africa is also known as the "Ma Yun Strait"?
After the completion of the Suez Canal, the strait became an important channel between the Mediterranean Sea and the East, with strategic and economic importance greatly increasing. The Mande Strait is a major maritime transportation route between the Pacific, Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean. It is called "the heart of world strategy" by Westerners . Currently, this is one of the busiest sea routes in the world.
Most people who hold the theory of human origin believe that the Mande Strait is the first stop for human migration from East Africa.
Indonesian Strait
4 Indonesian Strait (Indonesia)
Indonesian Strait is not a strait, but includes Sunda Strait , Lombok Strait , Makassar Strait , Makassar Strait .
Sunda Strait
Sunda Strait is a strait between Java Island and Sumatra, Indonesia, connecting the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean.
The Sunda Strait is northeast-southwest, and is close to the Java Trench in the west, so it is very deep. However, the narrowest part of the eastern part of the strait is only 24 kilometers wide and the shallowest part is only 20 meters deep. Therefore, Shazhou, strong tides and artificial obstacles such as Java Island nearshore oil wells make it difficult for ships to navigate. Nevertheless, the Sunda Strait has been an important waterway for centuries, especially when the Dutch East India Company uses it as a passage to the Indonesian spice islands. The shallow and narrow strait, coupled with inaccurate charts, makes modern large ships difficult to pass, while the narrowest part of the adjacent Malacca Strait and 25 meters at the shallowest part of the waterway is no better than the Sunda Strait. Therefore, the routes for super tankers and super bulk carriers that transport Brazilian and Western Australia iron ore sands are generally selected as Lombok Strait (the shallowest 250 meters) and Makassar Strait (the shallowest channel exceeds 900 meters). In fact, this is the famous Wallace Line in biogeography.
Lombok Strait
Lombok Strait is located in the West Nusa Tenggara Province of the Little Sunda Islands of Indonesia. It is a strait between Lombok and Bali. It connects to the Java Sea in the north and the Indian Ocean in the south. The Geely Islands are located on the strait near Lombok, in the northwest of Lombok.
Macassar Strait
0 The narrowest point of the Strait is located at the opening in the south, between Lombok and Penida Island, 18 kilometers apart; the opening in the north is about 40 kilometers wide. The entire strait is about 60 kilometers long. Since the water depth of the strait is 250 m, deeper than the Strait of Malacca, it has become a golden waterway for giant tankers to pass.
Okinawa Island-Miyakojima
5 Miyakoshi Strait (Japan)
Miyakoshi Waterway
Miyakoshi Strait, also known as Miyakoshi Waterway, Okinawa-Miyakoshi Waterway, Okinawa-Miyakoshi High Sea Waterway, etc., is located east of Taiwan Island, between Okinawa Island and Miyakoshi Island in the Ryukyu Islands . The strait is about 145 nautical miles wide, with most of the water depths above 100 meters. The Miyako Strait connects the offshore of China and the Western Pacific Ocean. It is an economical and convenient maritime channel channel between Chinese ships and the South Pacific Islands and Australia, and crosses the Pacific Ocean to Central America, South America and other places.
Vita Strait is located in the northern part of East Timor
6Vita Strait (Indonesia-East Timor )
Vita Strait is a strait located in the eastern part of the Little Sunda Islands in Southeast Asia. It is Vita Island in the north and Vita Island in the south, and it also separates Indonesia and East Timor. The narrowest part is about 36 kilometers wide. The west of the strait is Ataoluo Island in East Timor, and is connected to the Onbay Strait and the east is connected to the Banda Sea. The strait is the passageway between U.S. warships, including nuclear-powered submarines, and the Indian Ocean.
