150 YEARS OF SUEZ CANAL

About:

• Location: The Suez Canal is a sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez. It extends from the northern terminus of Port Said to the southern terminus of Port Tewfik at the city of Suez.
  
  
• The canal is owned and maintained by the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) of Egypt.
  
  
• Under the Convention of Constantinople, it may be used "in time of war as in time of peace, by every vessel of commerce or of war, without distinction of flag".
  
  
• Importance: The canal offers watercraft a more direct route between the North Atlantic and northern Indian oceans via the Mediterranean and Red seas, thus avoiding the South Atlantic and southern Indian oceans.
  
  

Timeline:

• Constructed by the Suez Canal Company between 1859 and 1869, it officially opened on 17 November 1869.
  
  
• The United Kingdom and France owned the canal until July 1956, when the President of Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser, nationalized it - an event which led to the Suez Crisis of October-November 1956.
  
  
• Egypt opened a major expansion of the canal in August 2015, deepening the main waterway and providing ships with a parallel 22-mile channel. The expansion allows two-way traffic along part of the route for the first time and the passage of larger vessels.