Named narrow marine passages and the bodies of water and land areas they separate or connect. Artificial waterways belong in Canals.
Test your knowledge with these top questions!
The Bosporus Strait links the Black Sea to which smaller sea?
Ships sailing south through the Bosporus enter the Sea of Marmara before reaching the Dardanelles.
Which strait carries about 20 million barrels of oil per day?
Most of that crude comes from Persian Gulf producers and travels to Asian markets, linking the strait to fuel prices.
The Strait of Hormuz narrows to about how wide at its narrowest point?
Two-mile-wide traffic lanes keep inbound and outbound tankers apart through the narrowest section.
Which two bodies of water does the Strait of Gibraltar connect?
Lighter Atlantic surface water flows east into the Mediterranean while denser salty water flows out below it.
Which Chilean port city stands on the Magellan Strait?
Punta Arenas grew as a coaling stop for steamships using the strait before the Panama Canal opened.
Which two continents does the Strait of Gibraltar separate?
At its narrowest point the strait spans about eight miles between Spain in Europe and Morocco in Africa.
Which two countries lie on opposite shores of the Strait of Hormuz?
Oman's Musandam Peninsula juts into the strait, so shipping lanes pass through both Iranian and Omani waters.
Which British overseas territory sits on the northern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar?
Britain has held Gibraltar since 1713, when Spain ceded it under the Treaty of Utrecht.
Which strait joins the Bosporus to form the Turkish Straits?
The Dardanelles links the Sea of Marmara to the Aegean, completing the route from the Black Sea.
The Magellan Strait connects which two oceans?
Before the Panama Canal opened in 1914, steamships relied on the strait to pass between these oceans.