Strait
58646
224721146
2008-07-10T03:13:32Z
Cosmic Latte
3190204
how did this not get caught?
{{unreferenced|date=January 2008}}
[[Image:Strait.svg|framed|Diagram of a strait]]
A '''strait''' is a narrow, navigable [[channel of water]] that connects two larger navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two [[land mass]]es, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not navigable, for example because it is too shallow, or because it contains an unnavigable [[reef]] or [[archipelago]]. The terms ''strait'', ''[[channel (geography)|channel]]'', ''passage'', ''[[Sound (geography)|sound]],'' and ''[[firth]]'' can be synonymous and interchangeable, although each is sometimes differentiated with varying senses. Many straits are economically important. Straits can lie on important [[shipping route]]s, and [[war]]s have been fought for control of these straits. Numerous artificial channels, called ''[[canal]]s'', have been constructed to connect two bodies of water over land.
Although rivers and canals often form a bridge between two large lakes or a lake and a sea, and these seem to suit the formal definition of straits, they are not usually referred to as straits. Straits are typically much larger, wider structures.
Straits are the duals of [[isthmus|isthmi]]. That is, while straits lie between two land masses and connect two larger bodies of water, isthmi lie between two bodies of water and connect two larger land masses.
A strait is similar to an [[inlet]] although inlets typically pass through island land masses usually from a large body of water such as an ocean to a much smaller body such as a bay while straits pass through much larger land masses and connect much larger bodies of water such as seas and oceans.
==Well-known straits==
{{Details|list of straits}}
Well-known straits in the world include:
*[[Palk strait]], between [[Bindi Land]] and [[Sri Lanka]], the location of [[Adam's Bridge|Ram Sethu]] and rich in natural resources
*[[Strait of Dover]], between [[England]] and [[France]], which connects the [[North Sea]] with the [[English Channel]]
*[[Strait of Gibraltar]], the only natural passage between the [[Atlantic Ocean]] and the [[Mediterranean Sea]]
*[[Bosporus]] and the [[Dardanelles]], which connect the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] and the [[Black Sea]]
*[[Strait of Magellan]], connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans north of [[Tierra del Fuego]]
*[[Bering Strait]] between [[Alaska]] and [[Siberia]], which connects the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] and [[Arctic Ocean]]s
*[[Strait of Hormuz]] connecting the [[Persian Gulf]] and the [[Oman Sea]], through which Persian Gulf [[petroleum]] is shipped to the world
*[[Strait of Malacca]], between [[Peninsular Malaysia]] and [[Sumatra]], connecting the [[Indian Ocean]] with the [[South China Sea]], is one of the highest-volume shipping lanes.
*[[Bass Strait]], which lies between mainland [[Australia]] and [[Tasmania]], and connects the [[Southern Ocean]] with the [[Pacific Ocean]].
*[[Cook Strait]], separating the North And South Islands of [[New Zealand]]
* The Bab el Mandeb, connecting the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea.
* The [[Skagerrak]] and [[Kattegat]] which connect the North Sea to the Baltic Sea.
==See also==
*[[Sound (geography)]]
*[[United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea]]
{{Commonscat|Straits}}
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