Major Straits of the world | Geography for UPSC CSE PDF Download

Major Straits of the World – The Ultimate List for UPSC

Strait

• A strait is a thin channel of waterways i.e. narrow passage of water that connects two seas or two other large areas of water.

Sketch of a Strait containing two Water Bodies.

The following are the main characteristics of a strait:

• Formed by natural processes
• Narrower than the seas it connects
• Navigable

Major Straits Of The World

• Straits of the world are used by commercial shipping to travel from one sea or exclusive economic zone to another and they are of immense strategic and commercial importance. Straits serve as a channel through which ocean currents pass, modifying the climate of that area.

Malacca Strait

• Joins: Andaman Sea & South China Sea
• Location: Indonesia –Malaysia

Palk Strait

• Join: Palk Bay & Bay of Bengal
• Location: India-Sri Lanka

Sunda Strait

• Join: Java Sea & Indian Ocean
• Location: Indonesia

Yucatan Strait

• Join: Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea
• Location: Mexico-Cuba

Mesina Strait

• Join: Mediterranean Sea
• Location: Italy-Sicily

Otranto Strait

• Join: Adriatic Sea & Ionian Sea
• Location: Italy-Albania

Bab-el-Mandeb Strait

• Join: Red Sea & Gulf of Aden
• Location: Yemen-Djibouti

Cook Strait

• Join: South Pacific Ocean
• Location: New Zealand (North & South Islands)

Mozambique Strait

• Join: Indian Ocean
• Location: Mozambique -Madagascar

North Channel

• Join: Irish Sea & Atlantic Ocean
• Location: Ireland-England

Taurus Strait (Torres Strait)

• Join: Arafura Sea & Gulf of Papua
• Location: Papua New Guinea — Australia

Bass Strait

• Join: Tasman Sea & South Sea
• Location: Australia

Bering Strait

• Join: Bering Sea & Chuksi Sea
• Location: Alaska-Russia

Bonne-Fasio Strait

• Join: Mediterranean Sea
• Location: Corsika — Sardinia

Bosporous Strait

• Join: Black Sea and Marmara Sea
• Location: Turkey

Dardanelles Strait

• Join: Marmara Sea and Agean Sea
• Location: Turkey

Davis Strait

• Join: Baffin Bay & Atlantic Ocean
• Location: Greenland-Canada

Denmark Strait

• Join: North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean
• Location: Greenland-Iceland

Dover strait

• Join: English Channel & North Sea
• Location: England-France
• Strait of Dover or Dover Strait is the narrowest part of the English Channel

Florida Strait

• Join: Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean
• Location: USA-Cuba

Hormuz Strait

• Join: Gulf of Persia & Gulf of Oman
• Location: Oman-Iran

Hudson strait

• Join: Gulf of Hudson & Atlantic Ocean
• Location: Canada

Gibraltar Strait

• Join: Mediterranean Sea & Atlantic Ocean
• Location: Spain-Morocco
• The Strait of Gibraltar is located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula.
• The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Gibraltar and Peninsular Spain in Europe from Morocco in Africa.
• The two continents are separated by 14.3 kilometers of the ocean at the Strait’s narrowest point.
• The Spanish side of the Strait is protected under El Estrecho Natural Park.
• On the northern side of the Strait are Spain and Gibraltar(a British overseas territory in the Iberian Peninsula); while on the southern side are Morocco and Ceuta (a Spanish autonomous city in northern Africa).
• Due to its location, the Strait is commonly used for illegal immigration from Africa to Europe.

• The Iberian Peninsula: The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme south-west of Europe and includes modern-day Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and Gibraltar. At the nearest point, it is only 5 miles (8km) from the continent of Africa.

Magellan strait

• Join: Pacific and South Atlantic Ocean
• Location: Chile

Makkassar Strait

• Join: Java Sea & Celebeze Sea
• Location: Indonesia

Tsugaru Strait

• Join: Japan Sea and Pacific Ocean
• Location: Japan (Hokkaido-Honshu Island)

Tatar Strait

• Join: Japan Sea & Okhotsk Sea
• Location: Russia (East Russia-Sakhalin Islands)

Foveaux Strait

• Join: South Pacific Ocean
• Location: New Zealand (South Island- Stewart Island)

Taiwan Strait (Formosa Strait)

• Join: South China Sea & East China Sea
• Location: China-Taiwan

Bohai Strait

• The Bohai Sea is connected to the Yellow Sea via the Bohai Strait.
• The Bohai Sea is a marginal sea which is the north-western extension of the Yellow Sea.

Korea Strait

• Join: East China Sea and Sea of Japan
• Location: Japan and South Korea

Jamaica Channel

• Join: The Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic
• Location: Jamaica and Hispaniola

Ten Degree Channel

• Join: The Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal
• Location: Car Nicobar Islands and Little Andaman

English Channel

• The English Channel is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France and links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end.
• It is the busiest shipping area in the world.

Kerch Strait

• The Kerch Strait is a strait connecting the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
• It separates the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea from the Taman Peninsula of Russia’s Krasnodar Krai.

Straits of Lombok

• Join: Java Sea & Indian Ocean
• Location: Indonesia (Bali and Lombok)

Bali strait

• Join: Bali Sea & Indian Ocean
• Location: Indonesia (Bali and Java)

• Isthmus: A narrow strip of land with sea on either side, forming a link between two larger areas of land.
• The Isthmus of Panama is a narrow strip of land at the southernmost end of Central America. It lies between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea while linking North and South America.

10 Important strategic Straits and Channels

• Strait of Gibraltar
• Bab-El Mendeb Strait
• Strait of Hormuz
• Strait of Malacca
• Bosporus Strait
• Bering Strait
• Strait of Magellan
• Strait of Messina
• Suez Canal
• Panama Canal