The Suez Canal

<p>The <strong>Suez Canal</strong> (<a class= "mw-redirect" title="Arabic language" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language">Arabic</a>: <span dir="rtl" lang="ar" xml:lang="ar">قَنَاةُ السُّوَيْسِ</span>‎, <em><em lang="arz-Latn" title= "American Library Association – Library of Congress transliteration" xml:lang="arz-Latn">Qanātu s-Suways</em></em>) is an artificial <a class="mw-redirect" title="Sea-level" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea-level">sea-level</a> <a title="Waterway" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterway">waterway</a> in <a title="Egypt" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt">Egypt</a>, connecting the <a title="Mediterranean Sea" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_Sea">Mediterranean Sea</a> to the <a title="Red Sea" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Sea">Red Sea</a> through the <a title="" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isthmus_of_Suez">Isthmus of Suez</a> and dividing Africa and Asia. In 1858, <a title= "Ferdinand de Lesseps" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_de_Lesseps">Ferdinand de Lesseps</a> formed the <a title="Suez Canal Company" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suez_Canal_Company">Suez Canal Company</a> for the express purpose of building the <a title="Canal" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal">canal</a>. Construction of the canal lasted from 1859 to 1869 and took place under the regional authority of the <a title="Ottoman Empire" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire">Ottoman Empire</a>. The canal officially opened on 17 November 1869. It offers vessels a direct route between the <a title="Atlantic Ocean" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Ocean#NORTH_ATLANTIC">North Atlantic</a> and northern <a title="Indian Ocean" href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Ocean">Indian</a> oceans via the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, avoiding the South Atlantic and southern Indian oceans and reducing the journey distance from the Arabian Sea to London by approximately 8,900 kilometres (5,50