The World's Maritime Chokepoints

The straits and canals that world trade cannot route around.

Roughly four-fifths of world trade by volume moves by sea, and much of it squeezes through a handful of narrow passages. A closure at Hormuz, Malacca, Suez, or Panama ripples through fuel prices and supply chains within days. These are the straits and canals that matter most.

#	Place	Where	When
1	The Danish Straits The three channels through the Danish islands that are the Baltic Sea's only sea routes to the North Sea and the Atlantic	Danish Straits (Great Belt), Denmark	Copenhagen Convention 1857
2	The Suez Canal Egypt's sea-level shortcut between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, still recovering from the Red Sea crisis	Suez Canal, Egypt	Opened 1869
3	The Kiel Canal Germany's shortcut across the base of the Jutland Peninsula, linking the North Sea to the Baltic	Kiel Canal, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany	Opened 1895
4	The Panama Canal The rain-fed staircase of locks that lifts ships across the Isthmus of Panama between the Atlantic and the Pacific	Panama Canal, Panama	Opened 1914
5	The Bosphorus The strait that splits Istanbul between Europe and Asia and is the Black Sea's only door to the oceans	Bosphorus, Istanbul, Turkey	Montreux Convention signed 1936
6	The Bab-el-Mandeb The Gate of Grief between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, southern door of the Red Sea and the Suez route	Bab-el-Mandeb, between Yemen and Djibouti
7	The Bering Strait The 82-kilometer gap between Russia and Alaska, where Asia meets America and today faces tomorrow	Bering Strait, between Russia and Alaska (United States)
8	The Dardanelles The narrow Turkish strait between Europe and Asia that links the Sea of Marmara with the Aegean and the Mediterranean	Dardanelles (Çanakkale Strait), Turkey
9	The Drake Passage The wild 800-kilometer gap between Cape Horn and Antarctica, the roughest crossing on Earth	Drake Passage, between South America and Antarctica
10	The English Channel La Manche to the French — the narrow sea between Britain and France and the world's busiest shipping lane	English Channel, between the United Kingdom and France
11	The Lombok Strait The deep Indonesian channel between Bali and Lombok that takes supertankers too deep-laden for the Strait of Malacca	Lombok Strait, between Bali and Lombok, Indonesia
12	The Strait of Gibraltar The 14-kilometer gap between Europe and Africa that is the Mediterranean's only natural link to the Atlantic	Strait of Gibraltar, between Spain and Morocco
13	The Strait of Hormuz The narrow outlet of the Persian Gulf, through which about a fifth of the world's oil passed in 2025	Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and Oman
14	The Strait of Malacca The long channel between Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, the world's busiest oil chokepoint	Strait of Malacca, between Malaysia and Indonesia
15	The Sunda Strait The volcanic strait between Java and Sumatra, home of Krakatoa and one of Indonesia's busiest ferry crossings	Sunda Strait, between Java and Sumatra, Indonesia
16	The Taiwan Strait The busy, closely watched channel between mainland China and Taiwan	Taiwan Strait, between mainland China and Taiwan

Place

Where

When

The Danish Straits
The three channels through the Danish islands that are the Baltic Sea's only sea routes to the North Sea and the Atlantic

Danish Straits (Great Belt), Denmark

Copenhagen Convention 1857

The Suez Canal
Egypt's sea-level shortcut between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, still recovering from the Red Sea crisis

Suez Canal, Egypt

Opened 1869

The Kiel Canal
Germany's shortcut across the base of the Jutland Peninsula, linking the North Sea to the Baltic

Kiel Canal, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Opened 1895

The Panama Canal
The rain-fed staircase of locks that lifts ships across the Isthmus of Panama between the Atlantic and the Pacific

Panama Canal, Panama

Opened 1914

The Bosphorus
The strait that splits Istanbul between Europe and Asia and is the Black Sea's only door to the oceans

Bosphorus, Istanbul, Turkey

Montreux Convention signed 1936

The Bab-el-Mandeb
The Gate of Grief between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, southern door of the Red Sea and the Suez route

Bab-el-Mandeb, between Yemen and Djibouti

The Bering Strait
The 82-kilometer gap between Russia and Alaska, where Asia meets America and today faces tomorrow

Bering Strait, between Russia and Alaska (United States)

The Dardanelles
The narrow Turkish strait between Europe and Asia that links the Sea of Marmara with the Aegean and the Mediterranean

Dardanelles (Çanakkale Strait), Turkey

The Drake Passage
The wild 800-kilometer gap between Cape Horn and Antarctica, the roughest crossing on Earth

Drake Passage, between South America and Antarctica

The English Channel
La Manche to the French — the narrow sea between Britain and France and the world's busiest shipping lane

English Channel, between the United Kingdom and France

The Lombok Strait
The deep Indonesian channel between Bali and Lombok that takes supertankers too deep-laden for the Strait of Malacca

Lombok Strait, between Bali and Lombok, Indonesia

The Strait of Gibraltar
The 14-kilometer gap between Europe and Africa that is the Mediterranean's only natural link to the Atlantic

Strait of Gibraltar, between Spain and Morocco

The Strait of Hormuz
The narrow outlet of the Persian Gulf, through which about a fifth of the world's oil passed in 2025

Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and Oman

The Strait of Malacca
The long channel between Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, the world's busiest oil chokepoint

Strait of Malacca, between Malaysia and Indonesia

The Sunda Strait
The volcanic strait between Java and Sumatra, home of Krakatoa and one of Indonesia's busiest ferry crossings

Sunda Strait, between Java and Sumatra, Indonesia

The Taiwan Strait
The busy, closely watched channel between mainland China and Taiwan

Taiwan Strait, between mainland China and Taiwan

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