May 5, 2021
The Suez Canal (Arabic: قَنَاةُ السُّوَيْسِ, Qanātu
s-Suways) is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting
the Mediterranean
Sea to the Red Sea through
the Isthmus of
Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. In 1858, Ferdinand de
Lesseps formed the Suez Canal
Company for the express purpose of building
the canal. Construction of
the canal lasted from 1859 to 1869 and took place under the
regional authority of the Ottoman Empire.
The canal officially opened on 17 November 1869. It offers vessels
a direct route between the North
Atlantic and northern Indian oceans
via the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, avoiding the South
Atlantic and southern Indian oceans and reducing the journey
distance from the Arabian Sea to London by approximately 8,900
kilometres (5,500 mi), or 10 days at 20 knots (37 km/h;
23 mph) to 8 days at 24 knots (44 km/h;
28 mph).[1] The
canal extends from the northern terminus of Port
Said to the southern terminus of Port Tewfik at
the city of Suez. Its length is
193.30 km (120.11 mi) including its northern and southern
access-channels. In 2020, more than 18,500 vessels traversed the
canal (an average of 51.5 per day).[2]
Our theme song was written and
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