StrategicWorldWaterBodies

Developed byJoe Naumann

UMSL

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Eastern Hemisphere

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European

• 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

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

• 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

Gulf ofAqaba

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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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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 el-Mandeb 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

• 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 180km-wide 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)(w. hemisphere)

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Western hemisphere

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Western Hemisphere

• 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

Ber

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Str

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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

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

Strait o

f 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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Mo

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Pas

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Satellite image

Mo

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Pas

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Mona Island

PuertoRico

DominicanRepublic

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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