What strait connects the Adriatic Sea to the Ionian Sea, between Italy and Albania?

The Strait of Otranto connects the Adriatic Sea to the Ionian Sea between Italy and Albania.

It runs from Italy’s Salento Peninsula toward Albania’s Karaburun Peninsula. At its narrowest, between Punta Palascìa and Karaburun, it is less than 72 kilometres wide. The strait takes its name from Otranto, the Italian port town on the Adriatic-facing coast of Apulia.

The passage has long had strategic importance because it is the gateway between the Adriatic and the wider Mediterranean. Roman forces used the port of Brundisium, modern Brindisi, as a launch point for crossings toward the Balkans and the Via Egnatia. During World War I, Allied forces established the Otranto Barrage to restrict Austro-Hungarian naval movement out of the Adriatic, although submarines remained a serious challenge.

A common mix-up is with the Strait of Messina, which separates Sicily from mainland Italy and links the Tyrrhenian and Ionian seas. The Strait of Otranto is farther east, dividing Italy from Albania.