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Suez Canal
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Cargo ships travel along the wide Suez Canal in Egypt, bordered by sandy desert on one side and greenery on the other. Vertical map of the Suez Canal in Egypt, showing its route from Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea in the north to Suez on the Gulf of Suez in the south. The map highlights the existing canal, the new canal channel as of August 2015, major lakes such as Lake Timsah and the Great Bitter Lake, and nearby cities and infrastructure including railroads and drainage canals, with the Sinai Peninsula to the east. An inset locates the canal within Egypt. High angle view of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier sailing through the narrow Suez Canal, surrounded by desert landscape on both sides. Suez Canal Suez Canal Authority
A collage featuring four colonial-era European figures in military and formal attire, a yellow map of Africa, and a vintage cartoon of imperialism in the background.
World map comparing two shipping routes from Dalian, China, to Rotterdam, Netherlands: the Suez Canal route, shown in blue, passing through the Strait of Malacca, Red Sea, and Mediterranean Sea, covering about 11,000 nautical miles and taking 48 days; and the alternate route, shown in red, traveling around the Cape of Good Hope at Africa's southern tip, covering about 14,500 nautical miles and taking 57 days. United Nations soldiers in helmets march in formation along a street in Port Said, carrying rifles and gear during the Suez Crisis, 1956. The Ever Given blocking the Suez Canal View of the Suez Canal waterfront between Port Said and Port Fuad, Egypt, with boats docked along the shore and mid-rise buildings lining the water.
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Suez Canal
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Suez Canal: References & Edit History

Additional Reading

Historical works

Historical studies of the Suez Canal include R.E.B. Duff, 100 Years of the Suez Canal (1969); D.A. Farnie, East and West of Suez: The Suez Canal in History, 1854–1956 (1969), which traces events from the concession to the nationalization of the canal company; Lord Kinross (Patrick Balfour, Baron Kinross), Between Two Seas: The Creation of the Suez Canal (1968); John Marlowe, World Ditch: The Making of the Suez Canal, 1964), a well-documented account from the canal’s inception to the British occupation of Egypt in 1882; Hugh J. Schonfield, The Suez Canal in Peace and War, 1869–1969, rev. ed. (1969), a brief general survey; and Arnold T. Wilson, The Suez Canal: Its Past, Present, and Future (1933, reprinted 1977), a classic evaluation of the British interest in the canal.

Modern works

Contemporary works include Valeska Huber, Channelling Mobilities: Migration and Globalisation in the Suez Canal Region and Beyond, 1869–1914 (2013); and Zachary Karabell, Parting the Desert: The Creation of the Suez Canal (2003).

Charles Gordon Smith The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article Contributors

Primary Contributors

Other Contributors

  • John Fyfe

Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors

Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Modified title of Web site: Official Site of Suez Canal Authority. Jul 22, 2026
Added media for the Ever Given incident. Mar 29, 2026
Updated to include Ever Given incident, Houthi attacks, and 2025 trade data. Mar 27, 2026
Added the number of transits of the Suez Canal in 2023 and 2024. Mar 25, 2025
Questions and answers added. Mar 20, 2025
Media added. Feb 27, 2025
Add new Web site: Official Site of Suez Canal Authority. Sep 10, 2024
Media added. Jan 18, 2024
Add new Web site: CNN - Why the Suez Canal is so important -- and why its standstill could be so damaging. Nov 06, 2023
Add new Web site: Official Site of Suez Canal Authority. May 15, 2023
Add new Web site: NPR - The history of the Suez Canal. Apr 03, 2023
Add new Web site: GlobalSecurity.org - Suez Canal. Nov 30, 2022
Add new Web site: Imperial War Museums - Why Was The Suez Crisis So Important? Apr 05, 2022
Corrected display issue. Mar 26, 2021
Revised metric and Imperial units throughout. Mar 26, 2021
Add new Web site: University of Houston - Engines of Our Ingenuity - The First Suez Canal. Nov 20, 2020
Add new Web site: Napoleon.org - The Building of the Suez Canal. Jan 16, 2019
Add new Web site: ThoughtCo. - Connecting the Red Sea with the Mediterranean. Feb 07, 2018
Corrected display issue. Jan 19, 2018
Add new Web site: American Society of Civil Engineers - Suez Canal. May 02, 2017
Add new Web site: Suez Canal Authority - About Suez Canal. Sep 07, 2016
Add new Web site: European Space Agency - Earth Watching - Suez Canal, Egypt. Sep 07, 2016
Updated canal length. Dec 29, 2015
Added information on the ships trapped within the canal during its two closures. Nov 06, 2015
Mentioned completion of 2015 expansion project. Aug 07, 2015
Added information on 2015 canal expansion and construction of a second lane. Aug 06, 2015
Added photograph of an aircraft carrier in the canal. May 28, 2015
Added information about the ancient Canal of the Pharaohs. Mentioned the establishment of the Suez Canal Authority in 1956. Apr 13, 2015
Added information about the canal expansion project. Updated traffic statistics. Apr 13, 2015
Added information on the 2014 plans to expand the canal. Updated geologic time data. Apr 13, 2015
Updated bibliography. Apr 13, 2015
Add new Web site: How Stuff Works - Geography - Geography of The Suez Canal. Dec 20, 2012
Add new Web site: State Information Service - Your Gateway to Egypt - Suez Canal. Dec 20, 2012
Add new Web site: How Stuff Works - Geography - Geography of The Suez Canal. Dec 20, 2012
New map added. Feb 23, 2011
Video added. Aug 25, 2010
Geologic time data updated. Oct 06, 2009
Added new Web site: Official Site of the Suez Canal Authority. May 28, 2009
Added new Web site: LookLex Encyclopedia - Suez Canal. May 28, 2009
Added new Web site: LookLex Encyclopedia - Suez Canal. May 28, 2009
Added new Web site: Official Site of the Suez Canal Authority. May 28, 2009
Added new Web site: Tour Egypt - Suez Canal. Jan 30, 2009
Article revised. Feb 19, 2004
Article revised. May 17, 2002
Article added to new online database. Jul 26, 1999
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