Strait

A strait is a narrow channel of water that connects two larger bodies of water, and thus lies between two land masses. The terms strait, channel, and passage are synonymous and are usually interchangeable. Many straits are economically important. Straits usually lie on important shipping routes, and many wars have been fought for control of these straits. Artificial straits, called canals, have been constructed to connect two bodies of water over land.

Well-known straits in the world include the English Channel, between England and France, and connects the North Sea with the Atlantic Ocean; the Strait of Gibraltar, which is the only passage between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea; the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, which connects the Mediterranean and the Black Sea; and the Straits of Malacca, which lies between Malaysia and Sumatra and connects the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea.

Straits are the duals of isthmuses. That is, while straits lie between two land masses and connects two larger bodies of water, isthmuses lie between two bodies of water and connects two larger land masses.

See also physical geography.

Straits of the World

• Agattu Strait[?] - Aleutians[?]
• Amchitka Pass[?] - Aleutians[?]
• Anegada Passage[?] - Virgin Islands and Anguilla
• Bab-el-Mandeb - connects Red Sea to Indian Ocean
• Balabac Strait[?] - between Palawan, Philippines and Borneo
• Bass Strait- between Australia and Tasmania
• Strait of Belle Isle - between Newfoundland and mainland Canada
• Bering Strait - between Siberia and Alaska
• Bohol Strait[?] - between Bohol and Cebu in the Philippines
• Strait of Bonifacio[?] - between Corsica and Sardinia
• Bosporus - between Europe and Asia
• Cabot Strait - between Newfoundland and Cape Breton Island
• Chatham Strait[?] - between Chichago Island[?] and Admiralty Island[?], Alaska
• Clarence Strait[?] - between Prince of Wales Island[?] and mainland Alaska
• Cooks Strait[?] - New Zealand
• Dampier Strait[?] - west end of New Guinea
• Dardanelles - between Europe and Asia
• Davis Strait[?] - between Baffin Island and Greenland
• Strait of Dover or Pas de Calais - English Channel)
• Drake Passage[?] - between South America and Antarctica
• English Channel -between England and France
• Straits of Florida[?] - between Florida and Cuba
• Fury and Hecla Strait[?] - between Baffin Island and Melville Peninsula[?], Canada
• Strait of Georgia[?] - between Vancouver Island and British Columbia
• Strait of Gibraltar - between Europe and Africa
• Great Belt - Denmark
• Guadeloupe Passage[?] - north of Guadeloupe, West Indies
• Hecate Strait[?] - between Queen Charlotte Island[?] and British Columbia
• Strait of Hormuz - between Arabia and Iran
• Hudson Strait - between Baffin Island and Quebec
• Jones Strait[?]
• Strait of Juan de Fuca - between Vancouver Island and Washington
• Kanmon Strait - between Honshu and Kyushu
• Kara Strait[?]
• Karimata Strait - between Sumatra and Borneo
• Korea Strait[?] - between Korea and Japan
• Kwangtung Strait[?]
• La Perouse Strait (also Soya Strait) - between Sakhalin and Japan
• Lancaster Strait[?]
• Little Belt - Denmark
• Lombok Strait
• Luzon Strait - between Taiwan and Luzon, Philippines
• Straits of Mackinac[?] - between northern and southern Michigan
• Strait of Magellan[?] - connects Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean
• Makassar Strait[?] - between Borneo and Sulawesi
• Straits of Malacca - between Malaysia and Sumatra
• Mare Island Strait[?]
• Martinique Passage[?] - between Dominica and Martinique
• McClure Strait[?] - Melville Island[?] and Banks Island
• Menai Strait[?] - between Anglesey and mainland Wales
• Strait of Messina - between Sicily and mainland Italy
• Mindoro Strait[?] - between Mindoro and Palawan in the Philippines
• Canal de la Mona[?] - between Hispaniola and Puerto Rico
• Oresund - between Denmark and Sweden
• Strait of Otranto[?] - between Italy and Albania
• Palk Strait[?] - between India and Sri Lanka
• Pease Strait[?]
• Qiongzhou Strait[?] - Hainan and mainland China
• San Bernardino Strait[?] - between Luzon and Samar[?] in the Philippines
• San Juanico Strait[?] - between Samar[?] and Leyte islands in the Philippines
• Serpents Mouth[?] - between Trinidad and Venezuela
• Shelikof Strait[?] - between mainland Alaska and Kodiak Island[?]
• Shimonoseki Strait[?]
• Strait of Sicily[?] - between Sicily and Africa
• Smith Strait[?]
• Sumba Strait[?] - between Flores and Sumba, Indonesia
• Sunda Strait - between Sumatra and Java
• Surigao Strait[?] - between Leyte and Mindanao islands in the Philippines
• Tablas Strait[?] - between Mindoro and Panay islands in the Philippines
• Strait of Taiwan
• Tanon Strait - between Negros and Cebu islands in the Philippines
• Strait of Tartary (also Mamiya Strait and Strait of Nevelskoi) - Sakhalin
• Strait of Tiran[?] - between Sinai and Saudi Arabia
• Torres Strait[?] - between New Guinea and Australia
• Tsugaru Strait[?] - between Hokkaido and Honshu
• Tsushima Channel[?]
• Vitiaz Strait[?] - between New Guinea and New Britain
• Windward Passage[?] - between Cuba and Hispaniola
• Yucatan Channel[?] - between Mexico and Cuba