What is the Suez Canal?

Suez Canal, man-made waterway in Egypt that connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, cutting through the Isthmus of Suez. The canal is 193.3 km (120 miles) long, 304.8 m (1,000 feet) wide, and 24 m (79 feet) deep at the maximum point. It has greatly reduced shipping distances between Europe and southern and eastern Asia, and is one of the world's most important shipping passages.

The construction of the Suez Canal involved more than 1 million workers and was financed mainly by the French. However, the Egyptian government nationalized the canal in 1956, resulting in the Suez Crisis, when Britain, France, and Israel launched an unsuccessful military campaign to regain control of the vital waterway.

The Suez Canal is a major source of revenue for Egypt, with about 13,500 ships passing through the canal each year. The Egyptian government has invested in expanding and improving the canal in order to handle more traffic and larger vessels.