Which of the following statements about Suez Canal is/are correct?

1. Suez is a man-made navigation canal

2. Suez links Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea

3. The economic significance of Suez Canal is less than that of Panama Canal

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

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Question

This question was previously asked in

UPSC NDA-II (General Ability) Official Paper-I (Held On: 03 Sept, 2023)

Answer 1

The correct answer is 1 and 2.

Key Points

The Suez Canal is a sea-level waterway that passes through Egypt's Isthmus of Suez to connect the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
- The Suez Canal was completely completed by 1869.
- The Suez Canal is a man-made waterway that cuts north-south across the Isthmus of Suez in Egypt. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
- The Suez Canal is an open canal, with no locks.
- The canal is responsible for providing Europe with a new gateway to the Indian Ocean as well as the western Pacific Ocean.
- In terms of the number of ships passing through it, the Suez Canal receives a larger number of ships than the Panama Canal. Hence, statement 3 is incorrect.
- The Suez Canal is an important international waterway, providing the shortest sea route between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Additional Information

Important Straits of the World:

Strait	Contiguous Landmass	Joining Seas/Water Bodies
Mesina Strait	Italy and Sicily	The Tyrrhenian Sea and the Ionian Sea, within the central Mediterranean
Hormuz Strait	Iran and Oman	The Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf
Bab-el-Mandeb	Djibouti, Yemen, and Eritrea of the Somali Peninsula	The Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea
Ten Degree Channel	Car Nicobar Islands and Little Andaman	Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal
Sunda Strait	Java island of Indonesia with its Sumatra island.	Java Sea and the Indian Ocean
Bering Strait	Asia from America	The Arctic Ocean and East Pacific ocean
Strait of Gibraltar	Spain and Morocco	The Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea
Strait of Malacca	Malaysia and Sumatra	The Pacific Ocean to the east with the Indian Ocean to the west
Palk Strait	India and Sri Lanka	The Bay of Bengal in the northeast with the Palk Bay/Arabian Sea in the southwest
Bass Strait	Tasmania island and mainland Australia	The Great Australian Bight and the Tasman Sea
Hudson Strait	Baffin Island and Labrador peninsula	Hudson Bay and the Labrador Sea