The artificial waterway opened in 1869 that connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea is the Suez Canal.
Located in Egypt, the canal cuts across the Isthmus of Suez between Port Said and the city of Suez. Construction began in 1859 under the direction of French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps, and the canal officially opened on November 17, 1869.
The Suez Canal is a sea-level waterway with no locks, allowing ships to pass directly between the two seas. It created a much shorter maritime route between Europe and Asia by eliminating the need to sail around the southern tip of Africa. The canal is about 193 kilometers long and remains one of the world's most important shipping corridors.
A common mix-up is the Panama Canal, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through Central America and opened in 1914. The Kiel Canal, meanwhile, links the North Sea and Baltic Sea in Germany.