Strait - Well-known Straits

Well-known Straits

For more details on this topic, see list of straits.

Well-known straits in the world include:

• Bab el Mandeb, connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
• Bass Strait, which lies between mainland Australia and Tasmania, and depending on definition, either connects the Indian Ocean with the Pacific Ocean, or connects the Southern Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.
• Bering Strait (85 km), between Alaska and Siberia, which connects the Pacific and Arctic Oceans.
• Bosporus and the Dardanelles, which connect the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea, with the Sea of Marmara in between.
• Cook Strait, separating the North and South Islands of New Zealand.
• Strait of Dover (34 km), between England and France, which connects the North Sea with the English Channel.
• Detroit River, connecting Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie, having lent the French translation of strait for naming the city of Detroit.
• The East River in New York City.
• Straits of Florida separate the Florida peninsula from Cuba. The Gulf Stream current originates there.
• Strait of Georgia, between Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia.
• Strait of Gibraltar (14.3 km), the only natural passage between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
• Strait of Hormuz connecting the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, through which Persian Gulf petroleum is shipped to the world.
• Straits of Mackinac, connecting Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.
• Strait of Magellan (2 km), connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans north of Tierra del Fuego and south of mainland South America.
• Strait of Malacca, between Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra, connecting the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea and thus the Pacific Ocean, is one of the highest-volume shipping lanes & the world's longest strait at about 500 miles.
• Menai Strait, running between the north Wales coast and the coast of Anglesey
• Strait of Messina (3.1 km), running between Calabria and Sicily.
• Palk strait, between Tamil Nadu state in India and Sri Lanka, the location of Ram Sethu and rich in natural resources.
• Pentland Firth is more a strait than a firth. It separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland.
• San Juanico Strait, narrowest strait in the Philippines, running between the islands of Samar and Leyte.
• Skagerrak, Kattegat, and the Danish straits which together connect the North Sea to the Baltic Sea.
• Taiwan Strait (180 km - 111.85 miles), between Taiwan and China.