Strategic
World
Water
Bodies
Developed by
Joe Naumann
UMSL
Eastern Hemisphere
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European
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Strait of Gibraltar
Strait of Dover
Storebaelt
Sicilian Channel
Dardanelles
Bosporus
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Strait of Gibraltar
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Strait of Gibraltar
• On the northern side of the
Strait is Spain and Gibraltar,
while on the southern side
is Morocco and Ceuta, a
Spanish exclave in North
Africa. Its boundaries were
known in antiquity as the
Pillars of Hercules. There
are several small islands,
such as the disputed Isla
Perejil, that are claimed by
both Spain and Morocco.
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Strait of gibraltar
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View with perspective
SPAIN
MOROCCO
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View from the Rock of Gibraltar
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Strait of dover
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Strait of Dover
• The Strait of Dover or Dover
Strait is the strait at the
narrowest part of the English
Channel. Most maritime traffic
between the Atlantic Ocean and
the North and Baltic Seas passes
through the Strait of Dover,
rather than take the longer and
more dangerous route around
the north of Scotland. The Strait
is one of the busiest
international seaways in the
world, regularly used by over
400 commercial vessels daily.
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Strait of Dover
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Looking Over the strait of dover
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Storebaelt
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Storebaelt
• The Great Belt
(Storebaelt) is part of
the 3 Danish straits (the
Great Belt, the Little Belt
and the Sound)
connecting the brackish
Baltic Sea with the saline
North Sea.
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Storebaelt
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Storebaelt Bridge
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Sicilian Channel
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Sicilian Channel
• The Strait of Sicily (Sicilian
Channel) is the strait between
Sicily and Tunisia. It is about
100 miles (160 km) wide and
divides the Tyrrhenian Sea and
the western Mediterranean Sea
from the eastern Mediterranean.
Deep currents in the strait flow
from east to west, and the
current nearer the surface
travels in the opposite direction.
The unusual water flow is of
interest to oceanographers.
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Sicilian Channel
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Dardanelles & bosporus
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Dardanelles & Bosporus
• The Dardanelles is a narrow
strait in northwestern Turkey
connecting the Aegean Sea to
the Sea of Marmara. Like the
Bosporus, it separates Europe
(in this case the Gallipoli
peninsula) and the mainland of
Asia. The strait is an
International waterway, and
together with the Bosporus,
Dardanelles connects the Black
Sea to the Mediterranean Sea.
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Dardanelles
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Bosporus
Dardanelles
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Bosporus
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Bosporus bridge
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Middle Eastern
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Suez Canal
Gulf of Aqaba
Strait of Hormuz
Bab el Mandeb
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Suez canal & Gulf of Aqaba&
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Suez Canal
• The Suez Canal is a large
artificial maritime canal in Egypt
west of the Sinai Peninsula. It is
163 km (101 miles) long and
300 m (984 ft) wide at its
narrowest point, and runs
between Port Said on the
Mediterranean Sea, and Suez on
the Red Sea. The canal allows
two-way north-to-south water
transportation, most importantly
between Europe and Asia
without circumnavigation of
Africa.
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Suez Canal importance
• The Suez Canal was the
focus of British foreign
policy in the Middle East for
many years and they were
determined to protect their
investment. Israel and
Egypt fought over it in
1956, 1967, and 1973.
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Suez Canal & Gulf of Aqaba
Suez Canal
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Gulf of
Aqaba
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Suez Canal from space
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Ships in the Suez Canal
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Gulf of Aqaba
• The Gulf of Aqaba is one of two
gulfs created by the Sinai
Peninsula's bifurcation of the
northern Red Sea. The Gulf of
Aqaba lies to its east. The Gulf of
Aqaba measures 24 km at its widest
point and stretches some 160 km
north from the Straits of Tiran to a
point where the border of Israel
meets the borders of Egypt and
Jordan. At this northern end of the
Gulf are three important cities:
Taba in Egypt, Eilat in Israel, and
Aqaba in Jordan. All three cities
serve both as strategically
important commercial ports
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Elat, Israel across the gulf
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Strait of Hormuz
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Strait of Hormuz
• The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow,
strategically important stretch of
ocean between the Gulf of Oman
in the southeast and the Persian
Gulf in the southwest. On the
north coast is Iran and on the
south coast is the United Arab
Emirates and Musandam, an
exclave of Oman. It is the only sea
passage to the open ocean for
petroleum exporting Persian Gulf
States. Some 20 percent of the
world's oil supply passes through
the strait, making it an important
strategic military location in the
Middle East.
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Strait of Hormuz
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Satellite View
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Iranian navy in hormuz
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Bab el Mandeb
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Bab el mandeb
• The Bab el-Mandeb strait (12°
40” North, 43° 20” East)
separates Africa (Djibouti and
Eritrea), and Asia (Yemen), and
connects the Red Sea to the
Indian Ocean via the Gulf of
Aden. The strait is strategically
important because it is
considered one of the world’s oil
transit chokepoints. Bab elMandeb was the site for of a
naval blockade of Israel by Egypt
in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
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Bab el mandeb
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Sailing the Bab el mandeb
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Asian
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Strait of Malacca
Taiwan Strait
Korean Strait
Bering Strait
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Strait of Malacca
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• The Strait of Malacca is a
narrow, 805 km (500 mile)
stretch of water between
Peninsular Malaysia and the
Indonesian island of Sumatra.
From an economic and strategic
perspective the Strait of Malacca
is one of the most important
shipping lanes in the world, an
equivalent of the Suez Canal, or
the Panama Canal.
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Strait of malacca
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Sunset over the strait
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Taiwan Strait
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• The Taiwan Strait or
Formosa Strait is a 180kmwide strait between mainland
China and the island of
Taiwan. The strait is part of
the South China Sea and
connects to East China Sea. It
has been the theatre for
several military confrontations
between the People's Republic
of China and the Republic of
China.
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Taiwan Strait
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Scene on Taiwan
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Korean Strait
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• The Korea Strait is a sea
passage between South
Korea and Japan,
connecting the East China
Sea and the Sea of Japan
(East Sea) in the northwest
Pacific Ocean. The strait is
split by the Tsushima Island
into the Busan Strait
(Western Channel) and the
Tsushima Strait (Eastern
Channel).
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Korea Strait
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U.S. Coast Guard patrols
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Bering Strait (w. hemisphere)
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Western hemisphere
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Western Hemisphere
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Bering Strait
Cabot Strait
Strait of Belle Isle
Hudson Strait
Strait of Florida
Windward Passage
Mona Passage
Panama Canal
Yucatan Channel
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Bering Strait
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Bering Strait
• The Bering Strait (Russian:
Берингов пролив) is a sea
strait between Cape
Dezhnev, Russia, the
easternmost point (169°43'
W) of the Asian continent
and Cape Prince of Wales,
Alaska, the westernmost
point (168°05' W) of the
North American continent,
with latitude of about 65° 40'
North, slightly south of the
polar circle.
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Bering Strait
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Satellite Image
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Cabot Strait
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Cabot Strait
• A strategically important
waterway throughout
Canadian and
Newfoundland history,
the strait is an important
international shipping
route, being the primary
waterway linking the
Atlantic with inland ports
on the Great Lakes and
St. Lawrence Seaway.
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Cabot strait
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Strait of Belle Isle
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Strait of Belle Isle
• The Strait of Belle Isle (French:
détroit de Belle Isle), is a
waterway in eastern Canada that
separates the Labrador Peninsula
from the island of Newfoundland,
in the province of Newfoundland
and Labrador. Navigation in the
strait can be extremely hazardous
with strong tidal currents, depths
reaching several hundred meters
in places, sea ice for 8-10 months
of the year, and variable weather
conditions including gales and fog.
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Strait of Belle Isle
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Hudson strait
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Hudson Strait
• Hudson Strait (62°0′N
70°0′W) links the Atlantic Ocean
to Hudson Bay in Canada. It lies
between Baffin Island and the
northern coast of Quebec, its
eastern entrance marked by
Cape Chidley and Resolution
Island. Discovered by explorer
Henry Hudson in the year 1610
aboard the British ship
Discovery, it was long thought
to be the fabled Northwest
Passage.
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Hudson Strait terrain
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Strait of Florida
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Strait of florida
• The Straits of Florida, Florida
Straits, or Florida Strait is a
strait located south-southeast of
the North American mainland,
generally accepted to be
between the Gulf of Mexico and
the Atlantic Ocean, and between
the Florida Keys and Cuba. The
strait carries the Florida Current,
the beginning of the Gulf
Stream, from the Gulf of Mexico.
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Florida
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Satellite View
Strait of Florida
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View from Havana warf
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Windward Passage
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Windward passage
• The Windward Passage is a
strait in the Caribbean Sea,
between the islands of Cuba and
Hispaniola. 80km wide, the
Windward Passage has a
threshold depth of 1,700m. It
connects the Atlantic Ocean to
the Caribbean Sea, and is in the
direct path of shipping between
the Panama Canal and the
eastern seaboard of the United
States.
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South of Guantanamo Bay
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Windward Passage
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Mona passage
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Mona Passage
• The Mona Passage is a
strait that separates the
islands of Hispaniola and
Puerto Rico. The Mona
Passage connects the
Atlantic Ocean to the
Caribbean Sea, and is an
important shipping route
between the Atlantic and
the Panama Canal.
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Satellite image
Dominican
Republic
Puerto
Rico
Mona Island
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Panama canal
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Panama canal
• The Panama Canal (Spanish:
Canal de Panamá) is a major
ship canal that traverses the
Isthmus of Panama in Central
America, connecting the Atlantic
Ocean and Pacific Oceans.
Construction of the canal was
one of the largest and most
difficult engineering projects
ever undertaken. It has had an
enormous impact on shipping
between the Pacific and Atlantic
oceans.
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Panama
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Panama Canal
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Locks on the canal
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Ship in the panama canal
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Yucatan channel
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Yucatan Channel
• The Yucatán Channel
connects the Gulf of Mexico and
the Caribbean Sea, extending for
135 miles (217 km) between
Cape Catoche, Mexico, and Cape
San Antonio, Cuba. The north
and south equatorial currents
enter the channel from the
southeast and form the
beginnings of the Gulf Stream in
the Gulf of Mexico.
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Yucatan Channel
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View from cuba
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