Backbone of the World Economy

               Blog#9

                                  Trade Routes, Straits and Channels

             Abstracts:

                        The high-volume businesses of goods and services all around the world between countries and continents happening are mainly transported through two modes, i.e. airways (using cargo planes, helicopters or any other aircraft) and waterways (using ships). A waterway transports the goods at a cheaper rate in comparison to that of the airways. These ships undergo through fixed trade routes from a country to other. These routes contain various channels (like straits and canals). Hence, trade routes and channels are important for businesses all around the world. We will discuss about in this article.    

 

 

                 Introduction:

                           Trade Routes                  

                                                Trade routes are a logistic network which is identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo trade, done with all means of transportation i.e. roadways, airways and over water bodies, in other words, Trade routes are established pathways that connect different regions, service, food and fuel facilitating points, big markets, transportation hubs etc. to ensure smooth exchange of goods, services and cultural influence between the source and the destination countries. Neverthless, trade routes not only are used for business, but also for;

                           Economic Growth,

                           Cultural Exchange,

                           Specialization and diversification of resources,

                           Wealth creation,

                           Technological diffusion,

                           Joining diplomatic relations,

                           Market expansion,

                           Job creation,

                           Modernized standard of living, etc.

                                                Overall this, trade routes play a pivotal role in shaping the economic, social, financial and cultural landscape of interconnected regions.

 

          Channels

Channels, typically refers to landforms in which a relatively narrow body of water is situated; for example, strait, river or river delta.

                   

Sometimes, artificial channels are developed to curtail the length of the trade routes and facilitate as per requirement, these channels are called canals. Suez Canal and Panama Canal are some examples.

 

 

Trade routes based on water ways:

1.     Suez Canal

            Suez Canal is a narrow strait type artificial canal in Egypt, Africa. It joins Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean via Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea respectively.

The Sea route from south east Asia and the rest of the eastern Asian countries, a very important route as it was used to connect the large industrial economies in the west to the large population and market in the east. This sea route was very lengthy as consignment ships had to travel around eleven thousand kilometers just to cross whole African peninsula starting from the Indian Ocean to reach the Mediterranean Sea or North Atlantic Ocean. An idea was proposed to shorten this distance on latter half of the nineteenth century, as per this idea, an artificial channel was proposed to connect the Mediterranean Sea with the Red sea by making an artificial canal in Egypt.

 

In 1858, Ferdinand de Lesseps formed the Suez Canal Company for construction of the purposed canal. The construction finished within a decade; i.e. 1859 to 1869 in an expenditure of 8 Billion Dollar.

 

It reduces the journey from Arabian Sea to London approximately by 8,900 kilometers; i.e. 10 days travel at 37 kilometers/hour or 8 days travel at 44 kilometers/hour. It extends from North Terminus at Port Said to the South Terminus at Port Tewfik or Suez Port at Suez, Egypt. 

 

According to the 2021 Census, 20,600 vessels were traversed from the canal at an average of 56 per day and this route holds 12 percent of the total trade routes worldwide. As a royalty, Egypt earns 9.4 Billion USD every year.

 

Some facts of Suez Canal:

Owned by the country: EGYPT

Coordinates: 30 deg 42’ 18’’ North 32 deg 20’ 39’’ East

Length: 193 kilometers

Navigation Authority: Suez Canal Authority

Construction Began: 25 April 1859

Construction Completed: 17 November 1869

Starting point: Port Said

End Point: Suez Port

 

                       

2.     Panama Canal

     Panama Canal is a narrow strait type artificial canal in the country of Panama, Central America, made to join Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean.

 

    An idea to build a canal of joining Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean through the narrowest land piece, Panama, situated at the Central America, then came under the territory of Cambodia was proposed by the US in the last decades of the nineteenth century to reduce about eleven thousand kilometers long route to reach to the Pacific Ocean without crossing the entire South American Peninsula. Nevertheless, this idea could not turn into reality because Cambodia did not accept the idea of the project. In the year 1903, Panama got freedom from Cambodia and formed an independent government.

    Eventually in 1904, the Panama Canal’s construction was started. The construction finished within a decade; i.e. 1904 to 1914 in an expenditure of 4.4 Billion Dollar. It length is 82 kilometers. 

     It reduces the journey from Pacific Ocean to London approximately by nine thousand kilometers; i.e. 10 days travel at 37 kilometers/hour or 8 days travel at 44 kilometers/hour.

     According to the 2021 Census; approximately 20,000 vessels were traversed from the canal at an average of 55 per day and this route holds 5 percent of the total trade routes worldwide. As a royalty, Panama Canal Authority earns 3 Billion USD every year.

 Some facts of Panama Canal:

     Owned by the country: PANAMA

Security Provided by: The US

Length: 82 kilometers

Navigation Authority: Panama Canal Authority

Construction Began: 4 May 1904

Construction Completed: 15 August 1914

Starting point: Atlantic Ocean

End Point: Pacific Ocean

 

 

Reference:

C1. Suez Canal

C2. Panama Canal

S1. Palk Strait

S2. Malacca Strait

S3. Strait of Hormuz

S4. Bering Strait

S5. Sunda Strait

S6. Bosporus Strait

S7. Taiwan Strait

S8. Lombok Strait

S9. Strait of Gibraltar

S10. Strait of Otranto

S11. Strait of Bonifacio

S12. Strait of Dover

S13. Bab-el-Mandab Strait

S14. Straits of Florida

S15. Strait of Magellan

S16. Bass Strait

S17. Cook Strait

S18 Torres Strait

 

    Straits

              Straits are a narrow stretch of water, which connects two water masses and separates two land masses. Straits are very important for the host countries to establish the service centers for ships passing through it as well as they can control the traffic also. Many countries use these points for their strategic benefits.

                                         

(Isthmus: Antonym of Strait is a narrow stretch of land, which connects two land masses and separates two water masses.)

 

            The important straits are listed below continent wise:

             Asia

1.     Palk Strait

Basin Countries: India, Sri Lanka

Location: Laccadive Sea

Coordinates: 10 degree North 79 degree 45’ East

Etymology: Robert Palk

Part of: Indian Ocean

Max. Width: 82 kilometers

Area: 2500 square kilometers

Max. Temperature: 35 degree Celsius 

Min. Temperature: 15 degree Celsius

Islands: Sri Lanka

 

2.     Malacca Strait

Basin Countries: Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia

Location: Maritime Southeast Asia

Coordinates: 4 degree North 100 degree East

Etymology: Phyllanthusemblica

Max. Width: 38 kilometers

Average depth: 25 meters

Max. Length: 930 kilometers

 

3.     Strait of Hormuz

Basin Countries: Oman, Iran, United Arab Emirates

Location: Persian Gulf-Gulf of Oman

Coordinates: 26.6 degree North 56.5 degree East

Min. Width: 39 kilometers

Islands: Hormuz Islands, Qeshm Island

 

4.     Bering Strait

Basin Countries: Russia, United States

Location: North Asia and Northern America

Coordinates: 65 degree 51’ 41’’ North 168 degree 53’ 10.5 ‘’ West

Min. Width: 82 kilometers

Average Depth: 30-50 meters

Max. Depth: 90 meters

Islands: Diomede Islands

 

5.     Sunda Strait

Basin Countries: Indonesia

Coordinates: 5 degree 55’ South 105 degree 53’ East

Etymology: Sunda Kingdom

Part of: Java Sea

Min. Width: 24 kilometers

Average Depth: -20 meters

 

6.     Bosporus Strait

Basin Countries: Turkey

Coordinates: 41 degree 07’ 10’’ North 29 degree 04’ 31’’ East

Part of: Turkish Straits

Min. Width: 700 meters

Max. Length: 700 meters

Max. Depth: 110 meters

 

7.     Taiwan Strait

Basin Countries: People’s Republic of China, Republic of China

Location: South China Sea, East China Sea

Coordinates: 24 degree 48’ 40’’ North 119 degree 55’ 42’’ East

Min. Width: 130 kilometers

 

8.     Lombok Strait

Basin Countries: Indonesia

Coordinates: 8 degree 46’ South 115 degree 44’ East

Part of: Indian Ocean and Bali Sea

Max. Width: 40 kilometers

Min. Width: 20 kilometers

Max. Length: 60 kilometers

Average Depth: 250 meters

Islands: Bali, Lombok Gili Islands, Nusa Penida

 

            Europe

 

9.     Strait of Gibraltar

Basin Countries: Gibraltar, Morocco, Spain

Location: Atlantic Ocean

Coordinates: 35 degree 58’ North 5 degree 29’ west

Max. Depth: 900 meters

Min. Width: 13 kilometers

 

10.Strait of Otranto

Basin Countries: Italy, Albania

Coordinates: 40 degree 13’ 10’’ North 18 degree 55’ 32’’ East

Min. Width: 72 kilometers

Average Depth: 18 meters

 

11.Strait of Bonifacio

Basin Countries: France, Italy

Location: Mediterranean Sea

Coordinates: 41 degree 18’ 43’’ North 9 degree 12’ 46’’ East

Min. Width: 11 kilometers

Max. Depth: 100 meters

12.Strait of Dover

Basin Countries: France, United Kingdom

Location: North Sea

Coordinates: 51 degree North 1 degree 30’ East

Min. Width: 32 kilometers

Average Depth: 46 meters

 

             Africa

 

13.Bab-el-Mandab Strait

Basin Countries: Djibouti, Eritrea, Yemen

Location: Between Northeast Africa and West Asia

Coordinates: 12 degree 35’ North 43 degree 20’ East

Min. Width: 26 kilometers

Average Depth: 186 meters

Max. Length: 50 kilometers

Islands: Seven Brothers, Doumeira, Perim

 

             North America

 

14.Straits of Florida

Location: Around Bahamas Island

Coordinates: 24 degree North 80 degree 50’ West

Average Depth: 1800 meters

 

             South America

 

15.Strait of Magellan

Basin Countries: Chile, Argentina

Location: Magallanes Region (Chile)

Coordinates: 54 degree South 71 degree West

Min. Width: 2 kilometers

Max. Length: 570 kilometers

 

             Australia

 

16.Bass Strait

Basin Countries: Australia

Location: Indian Ocean-Pacific Ocean

Coordinates: 40 degree South 146 degree East

Max. Width: 350 kilometers

Average Depth: 60 meters

Max. Length: 500 kilometers

Max. Depth: 155 meters

 

17.Cook Strait

Basin Countries: New Zealand

Coordinates: 41 degree 13’ 46’’ South 174 degree 28’ 59’’ East

Min. Width: 22 kilometers

Average Depth: 128 meters

 

18.Torres Strait

Basin Countries: Australia, Papua New Guinea

Location: Indian Ocean

Coordinates: 9 degree 50’ South 142 degree 30’ East

         

           Conclusion:

                        The trade routes have been used to accomplish the economic activities between the civilizations, continents and the countries from the ancient times of human civilization. The routes are used for business activities but are also advantageous for countries in social as well as cultural aspects. The canals which have been made such a long period ago for business exchange have played a great role in trading which saved time of the merchants and sailors and the cost of transportation so far. 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Words: 1700+

Sources of Data:

Wikipedia

World Bank websites

Britannica Scholar

Other course materials

Static Times websites

Google and other websites

Orient Blackswan School Atlas