1. Strait of Malacca
Map of the Strait of Malacca
Strait of Malacca: It is a long southeastern narrow sea of Myanmar, connecting the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, the west coast is the indonesian island of Sumatra, and the east coast is the southern part of West Malaysia and the Kingdom of Thailand, with an area of 65,000 km². The 800 km long channel resembles a funnel, and its southern mouth is only 65 km wide, gradually widening to the north, reaching 249 km wide between the indonesian city of Sabang and the Isthmus of Clark in the south of the Kingdom of Thailand. The Strait of Malacca is named after melaka (formerly known as Malacca), a trading port on the malayan coast, which was an important port in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The Strait of Malacca runs in a southeast-northwest direction. It is a long, southeastern stretch of water in the Burmese sea, with the southeastern tip connecting the South China Sea through the Strait of Singapore. With a total length of about 1,080 kilometers, a maximum width of 370 kilometers in the northwest, a narrowest point of 37 kilometers in the southeast, and a water depth of 25 to 150 meters, the strait is an international waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, and is also the crossroads between Asia and Oceania.
The Strait of Malacca is named after the famous ancient city of Malacca in Malaysia along its coast. The Strait is now co-managed by Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. The Strait is in the equatorial windless zone, so there are many calm days throughout the year. The bottom of the strait is flat, mostly silt, and the water flow is gentle.
At the eastern end of the Strait of Malacca is singapore, the world's largest port, with heavy shipping. About 100,000 ships, mostly tankers, pass through the Straits each year. Most of the oil Japan buys from the Middle East is shipped domestically through it.
The Strait of Malacca is the choke point between the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, with a navigable history of more than 2,000 years. It is an important sea route between the coastal countries of Asia, Africa, Australia and Europe, and many developed countries import oil and strategic materials from foreign countries must be shipped out of here. Due to the busy shipping and unique geographical location, the Strait of Malacca is known as the "Crossroads of the Sea".
The Strait of Malacca is located between the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra Island in Southeast Asia, connecting the South China Sea with the Andaman Sea and an important waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. It runs from northwest to southeast and is about 900 kilometers long. The north mouth is wide and the south mouth is narrow. The bottom of the gorge is relatively flat, and the water depth decreases from north to south and from east to west, generally 25-27 meters.
The narrowest channel is in the 1.8-meter shoal near Port Dickson on the east coast, which is about 5.4 kilometers wide. The main deep-water channel is on the east side of the strait, which can sail giant ships with a draft of 20 meters. The terrain on both sides of the river is low and flat, with many mangrove beaches, and the silt is exuberant, and the east-west coastline can stretch 60-500 meters per year. On the west coast, there are many large swamps and large muddy islands, and large ships are not easy to dock; there are scattered headlands or rock islands on the east coast, which are convenient for ships to anchor. The history of navigation is as far as 2,000 years and is an important part of the global route. More than 50,000 cargo ships, tankers and other vessels pass through the strait each year.
2. Suez Canal
Map of the Suez Canal
The Suez Canal is the dividing line between Asia and Africa, and the most direct water passage between Asia, Africa and Europe (see location map). To the west of the canal is the low-lying delta of the Nile River, and to the east is the uneven and arid Sinai Peninsula. Before the canal was built, the only important settlement next to it was suez city. The other towns along the coast basically developed gradually after the canal was built.
Topographically, Suez's topography is not the same, with three shallow, water-filled depressions: Lake Manzala and Lake Timsach and Lake Bitter, the latter of which, despite their size, form a constant body of water. The Suez Canal crosses the Isthmus of Suez and connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. The isthmus is made up of marine sediments, coarse sand and gravel accumulated during earlier rains, alluvial soils of the Nile (especially in the north) and sand blown by the wind. Digging a canal at the isthmus to communicate the ocean or the sea can save the sea voyage.
The Suez Canal is a gateless nullah with a largely straight line, but also 8 main curves. The canal runs through four lakes from north to south: Lake Manzala, Lake Timsah, Great Bitter Lake and Little Bitter Lake. The two ends are connected to Port Said on the mediterranean coast in the north and the city of Suez on the Red Sea in the south.
From the shipping route buoy to the Lighthouse of Port Said: 19.5 km, from the waiting area to the south entrance: 8.5 km, from Port Said to Ismailia: 78.5 km, from Ismailia to Port Tawfik: 83.75 km, and the length of the acceleration zone: 78.00 km.
Water surface width (north/south): 345-280 m; width between buoys (north/south): 215-195 m; Canal depth: 22.5 m; Maximum ship draft allowable value: 18.8976 m; Crossing area: 4800-4350 m2; Maximum tonnage: 210,000 tons; Speed limit for fully loaded tankers: 13 km/h; Cargo hold ship speed limit: 14 km/h.
3. Strait of Holmes
Map of the Strait of Hormuz
The Strait of Hormuz is located in southwest asia, between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula's Cape of Oman, bordering the Gulf of Oman to the east and the Gulf to the west (the Persian Gulf is called the Persian Gulf by the Iranians and the Arabian Gulf by the Arabs), and is the only outlet of the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean. Shaped like a herringbone, it is about 150 kilometers long from east to west, 56 to 125 kilometers wide from north to south, with an average water depth of 70 meters, a shallowest point of 10.5 meters, and a maximum depth of 219 meters. The strait is home to islands, reefs and shoals.
The Strait of Hormuz, because the amount of evaporation is much greater than the amount of precipitation, has increased the salinity of the sea water in the strait, reaching 37 to 38 ‰, and the salinity of the Persian Gulf has reached 38 to 41 ‰. The salinity of the Strait and the Persian Gulf is greater than that of the Gulf of Oman, creating a gradient of seawater density, triggering a less salinity of the Gulf of Oman to flow through the surface layer of the Strait to the Persian Gulf, while the larger salinity of the Persian Gulf flows through the bottom of the Strait to the Gulf of Oman. Since ancient times, the Strait of Hormuz has been an important transportation hub for culture, economy and trade between the countries of the East and the West.
The Strait of Hormuz is about 150 km long from east to west, 97 km at its widest point and only 38.9 km at its narrowest point; it is 56 to 125 km wide from north to south, with an average water depth of 70 m, a shallowest point of 10.5 m, and a maximum depth of 219 m. The strait is home to islands, reefs and shoals.
The Strait is a subtropical, tropical desert climate with hot and dry temperatures all year round, with surface water temperatures averaging 26.6 °C, the hottest month (August) reaching 31.6 °C, and the coldest month (February) being 21.8 °C. High temperature and dryness enhance the evaporation of seawater, and the annual precipitation is only 300 mm, which increases the salinity of seawater in the strait by 37 to 38, and the salinity of the Persian Gulf is 38 to 41.
4. The Taiwan Strait
Map of the Taiwan Strait
The Taiwan Strait is a strait between Chinese mainland and Taiwan Island that connects the South China Sea and the East China Sea. From the coast of Fujian Province in the west to the west coast of Taiwan Island in the east; there are many theories about the north-south boundary, and the general standard is: the connection between Maobitou at the southern end of Taiwan and Nan'ao Island in Guangdong, and the connection between Fuguijiao at the northern end of Taiwan and Lianjiangbei in Fujian in the north.
The Taiwan Strait extends longitudinally, is about 400 kilometers long, and covers an area of about 90,000 square kilometers. The south mouth is about 400 km wide, the north mouth is about 200 km wide, and the narrowest point in the north is 130 km.
The Taiwan Strait, the main route through China's north-south shipping, is located on the continental shelf of the East China Sea, with undulating terrain and an average water depth of about 60 meters. The Strait is located in the subtropical and northern tropical monsoon climate zone. Affected by the black tide, the water temperature of the strait is higher, the salinity and transparency are greater, and the wind and waves are larger.
The Taiwan Strait is rich in resources and is one of the important fishing grounds in China. Mackerel, tuna and sharks are the three main fishing products here. The bottom of the strait is rich in oil and gas resources, as well as minerals such as titanium, magnets, rutile, monazite and zircon, with high grades and large reserves.
The two sides of the Taiwan Strait have been the sacred territory of China since ancient times, the Zhou Dynasty was the Seven Fujian Provinces, and after the Spring and Autumn Period, it was the Fujian-Yue Land. Qin set up Minzhong County, during the Three Kingdoms period, the State of Wu set up Jian'an County, and sent troops to Taiwan, the Northern Song Dynasty set up Fujian Road, and began to administer Taiwan, and the Yuan established two provinces of Fuzhou and Quanzhou. In the Qing Dynasty, the Fujian division inherited the Ming system and added the Taiwan Prefecture, which was under the jurisdiction of Fujian. In 1885, Taiwan Province was established as a separate province. After the Xinhai Revolution, all were placed in Fujian Province. During the Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty was defeated in the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War, and according to the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Maguan, the Qing government was forced to cede Taiwan and Penghu to Japan until 1945, when Taiwan was restored and Taiwan and the Penghu Islands were returned to China.
Since both sides of the Taiwan Strait are Chinese territory and the width of the Strait is less than 200 nautical miles, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, most of the waters of the Taiwan Strait are China's "exclusive economic zone" except for the "territorial sea" within 12 nautical miles between the two sides of the strait.
5. Strait of Gibraltar
Map of Gibraltar
The western end of the Strait of Gibraltar, between Cape Trafalgar in the north and Cape Spartel in the south, is 43 km wide; at the eastern end of the Strait, between the Column of Hechulis in the North and the Acho Mountain in the south, directly east of Ceuta (Spanish enclave in Morocco), is 23 km wide. The Strait is a gap in the curved tectonic belt formed between the Atlas Mountains of North Africa and the Spanish Plateau, with an average depth of 365 meters. The wind direction of the strait is mostly east wind or west wind, and the shallow cold air mass entering the western Mediterranean sea from the north often becomes a low-level high-speed east wind, which is locally known as levanter wind. From the Atlantic Ocean, there are 2 knots of surface currents flowing eastward through the Strait into the Mediterranean Sea, which flows more than the heavier, colder, saltier currents that flow westward at a depth of about 122 meters, so that the existence of the Strait avoids the Mediterranean from becoming a shrinking salt lake. The Hercules Column is a symbol of the western end of the ancient world. Because of its strategic and economic value, the Strait was used by Atlantic navigators in the early days and remains an important navigation route through the Atlantic Ocean to Southern Europe, North Africa and Western Asia.
The Strait of Gibraltar is located between the southernmost part of Spain and northwestern Africa. It is an important gateway to the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The gorge is only 13 kilometres at its narrowest point, with the widest incisive point to the west at 43 kilometres, the shallowest point being 301 metres and the deepest depth at 1,181 metres, with an average depth of about 375 metres, and the current flowing from the Atlantic Ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar to the Mediterranean Sea at a rate of 4 kilometres per hour. In its early years it was used by Atlantic navigators, through which expedition fleets of countries along the Mediterranean frequently reached the Atlantic. Today, the Strait of Gibraltar remains an important route from the Atlantic Ocean to southern Europe, North Africa and Western Asia.
6. The Turkish Strait
Map of the Turkish Straits
The Bosphorus Strait is to the northeast, the Dardanelles to the southwest, and between the two straits is the Sea of Marmara in turkey's inland sea. Sovereignty on both sides of the strait belongs to Turkey.
During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union established the Black Sea Strait as one of the most important maritime chokes in the world. After the Cold War, NATO still regarded the Black Sea Strait as one of the strategic points of Eurasia.
The Turkish Strait was originally an ancient channel that eroded along the fault line, and then the earth's crust sank and the sea was submerged.