A Canal: A Man-Made Channel Connecting Waterways for Boat Travel

A canal is an artificial waterway dug to allow boats to travel between rivers, lakes, or seas that aren't naturally connected—or to shortcut a longer route. Famous examples:

• Suez Canal: Mediterranean ↔ Red Sea (193 km, no locks).
• Panama Canal: Atlantic ↔ Pacific (82 km, lock system).
• Erie Canal: Hudson River ↔ Great Lakes (584 km, 1825).
• Kiel Canal: North Sea ↔ Baltic Sea (98 km).

Canals transform trade, travel, and geopolitics by stitching water bodies together.