Straits of the World

Bab al Mandab Strait

The Bab-el-Mandeb is a strait between Yemen on the Arabian
Peninsula, and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa. It
connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
Significance: The Bab el-Mandeb Strait (“Gate of Tears” in
Arabic) forms a vital strategic link in the maritime trade
route between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean
via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
Control: The UAE's control of the strait also suggests that
there will be an indirect Israeli presence, especially after
relations between the two countries normalized.
 Bering Strait
The Bering Strait is a strait between the Pacific and Arctic
oceans, separating the Chukchi Peninsula of the Russian Far
East from the Seward Peninsula of Alaska.
Significance: Lowered sea levels during the last Ice Age
exposed dry land between Asia and the Americas, creating the
Bering Land Bridge. The first humans to arrive in America came
from Asia across the land bridge, but when and how they spread
throughout the New World is still a mystery.
Control: Only 47 nautical miles wide at its narrowest point,
the Strait itself lies within the territorial seas of the Russian
Federation and the United States. The remaining waters of the
BSR are located within the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of
the two countries.
 Strait of Malacca
It separates Peninsular Malaysia from Sumatra island of
Indonesia. It connects the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean. It
provides a shorter route from the Andaman Sea to the South
China Sea and therefore is the busiest waterway of the world.
World’s Longest Strait
Part of OBOR and String of Pearls.
Significance: The Strait of Malacca is one of the world's
busiest canals, the transit point for merchant ships as well as
giant oil tankers to the Middle East and Japanese ports and
other parts of East Asia. In addition, the strait is of great
economic importance for the countries of the region and the rest
of the world.
Control: The Malacca and Singapore Straits are within the
territorial waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. As
per the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which took effect
in 1994, the Straits' safety administration, including the
maintenance of navigational aids, is the responsibility of these
three countries.
 Strait of Hormuz
The Strait of Hormuz is the world’s single most important oil
passageway, forming a chokepoint between the Arabian Gulf
and the Gulf of Oman. The 39km strait is the only route to the
open ocean for over one-sixth of global oil production and one-
third of the world’s liquified natural gas (LNG).
Significance: Around one-sixth of the world’s oil moves
through the strait – 17.2 million barrels per day. This includes
most of the oil from Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) members Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE and
Kuwait. Qatar, the world’s biggest exporter of LNG, sends most
of its LNG through the strait as well.
During the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, the two countries
routinely menaced each other’s oil shipments. In 1988, US
warship Vincennes shot down an Iranian passenger plane,
killing 290 people in what Washington said was an accident. In
2010, a Japanese oil tanker was attacked by a group linked to al-
Qaeda.
 Part of OBOR and String of Pearls.
Control: The Strait contains eight major islands, seven of
which are controlled by Iran. Iran and the United Arab Emirates
disagree as to the ownership of the strategically located Abu
Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb islands. Nonetheless, Iran
has maintained a military presence on these islands since the
1970s. Some rights hold by Oman.

Strait of Bosporus
The Bosphorus Strait or Bosporus Strait is a natural strait and an
internationally significant waterway located in northwestern
Turkey. It forms part of the continental boundary between Asia
and Europe, and divides Turkey by separating Anatolia from
Thrace.
Narrowest Strait of the World
Significance: The Bosphorus is the only way
for Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia (South-Western part)
 and Ukraine to reach the Mediterranean Sea and other seas.
Thus sovereignty over the straits is an important issue for these
countries, as well as Turkey, the state the Bosphorus itself flows
through.
It forms part of the continental boundary between Asia and
Europe, and divides Turkey by separating Anatolia from Thrace.
Control: Turkey
 Strait of Palk
The Palk Strait is a strait between the Tamil Nadu state of India
and the Jaffna District of the Northern Province of the island
nation of Sri Lanka. It connects the Bay of Bengal in the
northeast with Palk Bay in the southwest.
Control: India and Sri Lanka
Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar, also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is
a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the
Mediterranean Sea and separates the Iberian Peninsula in Europe
from Morocco in Africa.
Significance: Of great strategic and economic importance, the
strait was used by many early Atlantic voyagers and has
continued to be vital to southern Europe, northern Africa, and
western Asia as a shipping route. Much of the area's history
involved rivalry over control of the Rock of Gibraltar.
Control: United Kingdom
 Strait of Taiwan or Formosa
Taiwan Strait (also called the Formosa Strait) is a narrow body
of water that separates the island of Taiwan from the
southeastern coast of mainland China.
Significance: Taiwan is now a focal point on the U.S. foreign
policy agenda. Preserving the status quo in the Taiwan Strait in
the face of growing Chinese power and assertiveness is a
challenge not just for the Unites States but also other nations
including Japan.
Control: this is point of conflict between PRC mainland and
RoC Taiwan.
Sr.
Strait Name Remarks
No.
It connects the Bay of Bengal with the Gulf
1 PALK STRAIT
of Mannar.
It connects the Atlantic Ocean with the
STRAIT OF Mediterranean Sea and separates Gibraltar
2
GIBRALTAR and Spain in the north from Morocco in the
south.
It is a strait separating Rutland to the North
3 DUNCAN PASSAGE
and Little Andaman to the south.
NINE DEGREE This Channel connects Laccadive Islands of
4
CHANNEL Kalapeni, Suheli Par & Maliku Atoll.
TEN DEGREE It separates the Andaman Islands from the
5
CHANNEL Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal.
It lies between UAE and Oman on the south-
west and Iran on the north-east. It connects
6 STRAIT OF HORMUZ the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman. It is
strategically very important as it controls the
oil trade from the Gulf countries.
STRAIT OF BAB-EL- It connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of
7
MANDAB Aden and separates Asia from Africa.
It separates Peninsular Malaysia from
Sumatra island of Indonesia. It connects the
Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean. It
8 MALACCA STRAIT
provides a shorter route from the Andaman
Sea to the South China Sea and therefore is
the busiest waterway of the world.
It connects the Java Sea to the Indian Ocean
9 SUNDA STRAIT and separates Java island of Indonesia from
its Sumatra island.
It separates Russia and Alaska and connects
 Lombok Strait
The Lombok Strait (Indonesian: Selat Lombok), is a strait
connecting the Java Sea to the Indian Ocean, and is located
between the islands of Bali and Lombok in Indonesia. The Gili
Islands are on the Lombok side.
Significance: The Lombok Strait is notable as one of the main
passages for the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) that exchanges
water between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
It is also part of the biogeographical boundary between the fauna
of the Indomalayan realm and the distinctly different fauna of
Australasia. The boundary is known as the Wallace Line.
Part of String of Pearls.
Control: Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara (Nusa
Tenggara Barat or NTB) province, Indonesia. It forms part of
the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait
separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it
and Sumbawa to the east.