Which canal links the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean through Panama?

The Panama Canal links the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean through Panama.

The canal crosses the Isthmus of Panama and uses a system of locks to raise ships to Gatun Lake and then lower them toward the opposite coast. Its opening on 15 August 1914 created a much shorter maritime route than sailing around Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America.

A French company began an unsuccessful construction effort in the 1880s, but the United States later completed the project. Yellow fever and malaria, difficult terrain, landslides, and engineering challenges caused severe losses during construction. The United States controlled the canal zone for much of the twentieth century before transferring full control to Panama on 31 December 1999.

The canal does not connect two entirely separate bodies of water in the simple sense often imagined: the Atlantic entrance is on the Caribbean Sea, which is part of the Atlantic system. The Suez Canal, by contrast, connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.