Information about the Suez Canal, past and present

The establishment and location of the Suez Canal

The Suez Canal is a waterway linking the White and the Red Bahrains, and its length reaches 163 km. The reason for naming it by this name is due to the Gulf of Suez in the Arab Republic of Egypt. Work on it began on the 25th of April 1859 AD, but the actual use of it did not begin until ten years later. On November 17, 1869 AD, the cost of construction, which was carried out by a French company, amounted to about 100 million US dollars, and part of it was expanded, which is the part called “Ballah Bypass” in 2014 AD, and the cost of the expansion was estimated at about 8.4 billion dollars, and the goal of this The project aims to double the number of ships that dock from 49 ships per day to 97 ships.

Historical information about the Suez Canal

The ancient Egyptians were the first to implement the idea of ​​a project similar to the Suez Canal. Where they linked the Nile River in Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, and this channel was closed, abandoned, and then opened many times throughout history by many rulers, then the accumulation of silt from the Nile River led to the final closure of the channel, and the first step to establishing the modern Suez Canal was completed. by Napoleon Bonaparte.

Suez Canal Crisis

In 1956, Egypt was exposed to the tripartite aggression launched against it by Israel, Britain, and France. Where this aggression aimed to overthrow Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, and the occupation of the Suez Canal, and this aggression was after Abdel Nasser nationalized the canal and closed navigation to the Israelis, which led to military intervention by Britain and France, and this aggression was called the Suez Crisis, or the war Sinai, as a result of which the canal was closed for a period of six months, from October 1956 AD to March 1957 AD.

The importance of the Suez Canal recently

• The importance of the canal stems from being a primary source of income for the state of Egypt. As its total revenues amount to more than 3 billion dollars annually, and more than 17000 ships pass through it annually, which means that 50 ships pass through this channel that connects the Red Sea with the White Sea daily.
• The Suez Canal controls 8% of the global navigation traffic, as it reduces time and money in transporting goods between countries.
• It is considered one of the most important waterways in the world.