Which sea route does the Suez Canal connect?

The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.

The canal crosses the Isthmus of Suez in Egypt, linking Port Said on the Mediterranean with the Gulf of Suez, which opens into the Red Sea. It provides a direct water route between Europe and Asia, avoiding the long voyage around Africa's Cape of Good Hope.

The modern canal opened on 17 November 1869 after a decade of construction led by the Suez Canal Company. It is a sea-level waterway without locks, unlike the Panama Canal. Ships using it travel through the canal's lakes and artificial cuts across the desert.

The Suez Canal has repeatedly been strategically important. Egypt nationalised it in 1956, and the waterway was closed from 1967 until 1975 after the Six-Day War. A parallel expansion, the New Suez Canal, opened in 2015 to increase traffic capacity.