Definition: The Suez Canal is a 100-mile artificial waterway (160 km) connecting the Gulf of Suez and the Red Sea to the south with the Mediterranean Sea to the north. It was opened to shipping in 1869, when it was just 30 feet deep (9 meters) and 100 feet wide (30 meters). The canal significantly reduced travel time between Europe and East Africa, India, the Far East and Japan.
Egypt's Gamal Abd el Nasser nationalized the canal in 1956 in retaliation for the refusal by the United States and Britain to finance construction of the Aswan Dam on the Nile.
The Canal is now 590 feet wide at its narrowest point and 53 feet deep. Some 20,000 ships pass through annually, earning Egypt $1 billion in 1987 and $2.57 billion in 2003.
For a more complete briefing on the history and politics of the Suez Canal, read What Is the Suez Canal?
