SUEZ CANAL

What is Suez Canal?

The Suez Canal is a human-made waterway that cuts
north-south across the Isthmus of Suez in Egypt.

The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean Sea to

the Red Sea, making it the shortest maritime route to
Asia from Europe. Since its completion in 1869, it has
become one of the world’s most heavily used shipping
lanes.
Importance of Suez Canal:
The Suez Canal is important because it is the shortest
maritime route from Europe to Asia. Prior to its
construction, ships headed toward Asia had to embark
on an arduous journey around the Cape of Good
Hope at the southern tip of Africa. Because of its
strategic location, the canal is both heavily used and
heavily protected.

Construction of the Suez Canal:

The construction of the Suez Canal officially began on
April 25, 1859. It was estimated that a total of 2,613
million cubic feet of earth- 600 million on land and
2,013 million through dredging- would have to be
moved for building the canal. Furthermore, the total
original cost of the project was estimated at 200 million
francs.
However, the decision to build a canal connecting the
Mediterranean and the Red Sea invited criticism from
Briton, who considered the project a political scheme to
weaken the country’s dominance in seaborne trade.
Britain continued to oppose the project until the Empire
bought a 44 per cent stake in the canal after the
Egyptian government auctioned off its shares in 1875
due to financial problems.
Initially, the construction of the canal was carried out
by forced labourers. It is said that thousands of people
were forcefully assigned to dig the canal using picks
and shovels until Pasha banned the use of forced labour
in 1863.
This compelled the Suez Canal Company to bring
custom-made steam and coal-powered shovels and
dredgers to build the canal.
With the help of this machinery, the project received the
boost it required and allowed the waters of the
Mediterranean to flow into the Red Sea through the
canal on November 17, 1869.
When it opened for navigation, the Suez Canal was 200
to 300 feet wide at the surface, 72 feet wide at the
bottom and 25 feet deep. At the time of completion, the
project’s total cost was more than twice the original
estimate.

Suez Canal map:

Who built the Suez Canal?
In 1854, Ferdinand de Lesseps, the former french
consul to Cairo, got an agreement with the Ottoman
Governor of Egypt, Sa’id Pasha, to build the 100 miles
long canal across the Isthmus of Suez. He envisaged
that the channel would be open to ships from all
nations, and his company would operate the canal for
99 years after its opening.

How deep is the Suez Canal now?

After many enlargements, the Suez Canal is 193.30
kilometres long, 24 km deep and 205 metres wide. The
other access channel is 22 km long, and the southern
track is 9 km long. The canal itself is 193 km long.

Facts about Suez Canal:

Its origin found in ancient Egypt
It was opened in 1869
The statue of liberty was built for the canal
Its developer also attempted to built the Panama
Canal
The British government opposed the project
It was nationalised in 1956
It was shut down after the six-day war
It takes 12-15 days to travel
It is now 193 km long and 205 meters wide.