Description: " Suez Canal, a ship canal across the Isthmus of Suez, connection the Mediterranean with the Red Sea. It extends from Port Said, on the Mediterranean, to Suez on the Gulf of Suez, a distance of one hundred miles, and is the longest ship canal in the world. About sixty miles of the channel is through shallow lakes. It is a sea-level canal and has no locks. Work on it was begun in 1859, and the structure was completed in ten years. The original expense was about $95,000,000. The Suez Canal was undertaken and carried to completion under the direction of Count Ferdinand de Lesseps, a French engineer. Its construction shortened the sailing distance between England and India more than 5,000 miles, and it has materially increased the traffic between European and Asiatic countries. The canal is lighted by electric lights, so that ships can navigate it by night as well as by day. About 4,000 vessels pass through it each year, and the annual tolls amount to about $25,000,000. It is under management of an international commission and in times of peace is open to ships of all nations on equal terms. During the World War Germany made several attempts to destroy the canal and thus cripple Great Britain, but the efforts failed. " — Foster, 1921.
Place Names: Arabia,
ISO Topic Categories:
Keywords: The Suez Canal, transportation, canal, water routes, Unknown,1921
Source: Ellsworth D. Foster, ed., The American Educator Vol. 7 (Chicago, IL: Ralph Durham Company, 1921) 3461
Map Credit: Courtesy the private collection of Roy Winkelman. |
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