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Table of Contents
The Suez Canal is a waterway in Egypt that runs through the Isthmus of Suez, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. It was constructed by the Suez Canal Company and was officially opened on November 17, 1869.
See the fact file below for more information on the Suez Canal or alternatively, you can download our 22-page Suez Canal worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information
LOCATION
- The Suez Canal is a 120-mile waterway that stretches from Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea to the south all the way to the city of Suez.
- The canal connects the Mediterranean and Red Seas and divides Egypt from the Sinai Peninsula.
- The Isthmus of Suez is the only land bridge between the African and Asian continents which used to form a single continental mass.
CONSTRUCTION AND PURPOSE
- The canal was constructed by the Suez Canal Authority, its owner and operator, from 1859 to 1869 — it took approximately ten years.
- It was officially opened on November 17, 1869.
- The intended purpose of the canal was for commerce and war.
- It was built to be open to ships to all countries.
- There has always been interest in a route connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
- Even though small canals connecting the Nile River to the Red Sea were in already in use, a direct marine route between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea was desired, but its construction was considered impossible because the bodies of water were believed to be at different levels of altitude.
- The alternative connecting route was on land.
- Discussions of the canal’s construction started in the 1830s, beginning with the survey performed by French engineer Linant de Bellefonds.
- Bellefonds confirmed that the Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea were actually at the same level of altitude.
HISTORY
- An early canal similar to the Suez Canal was believed to be built around 1850 BC. It was called the Canal of the Pharaohs or the Ancient Suez Canal.
- This ancient canal connected the Red Sea and the Nile River and had been traveled by Cleopatra.
- It was French explorer and commander Napoleon Bonaparte who began the survey of constructing a canal between the Mediterranean and Red Seas.
- After several excursions, his team concluded that the seas were at different levels of altitude.
- Napoleon Bonaparte consequently moved away from the project.
- Linant de Bellefonds proved Bonaparte’s team wrong: the bodies of water were in fact at same levels of altitude.
- In 1854, the planning of the canal’s construction officially began.
- French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps formed the Suez Canal Company in agreement with the Egyptian viceroy.
- The British Empire opposed and criticised the construction of the canal, viewing it as a political scheme for commercial dominance.
- A great deal of manpower was needed to construct the Suez Canal.
- The Egyptian government had to force men to work.
- The working environment was not exactly great either: thousands of men had to dig parts of the canal by hand using shovels and picks.
- Forced labor was effectively banned in 1863 which made the slow construction even slower if not completely stagnant.
- The shortage of laborers birthed new technology.
- Construction picked up the pace with the use of steam-powered and coal-powered shovels in digging the canal, finishing the rest of the canal in two years.
- French sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi proposed to build a statue at the entrance of the canal: a sculpture of a woman holding a torch and wearing Egyptian robes. The statue was meant to symbolize a lighthouse that guides ships entering the Suez Canal.
- Unfortunately, the sculpture did not materialize at the Suez Canal.
- Bartholdi built it in New York Harbor instead, and in 1886 it was officially unveiled as the Statue of Liberty.
- The modern Suez Canal was finally completed in 1869.
THE SUEZ CRISIS
- The Suez Canal was at the center of the war that happened in July 1856 between Egypt and the combined powers of France, Great Britain, and Israel. The war was called the Suez Crisis.
- The main cause of the war was that the colonial forces still occupied Egypt, even after Egypt had gained independence in 1922.
- The Suez Canal remained under Egypt’s control after the war.
THE YELLOW FLEET
- The Suez Canal was also at the center of the Six-Day War fought between Egypt and Israel.
- Egypt closed down the Suez Canal which trapped fifteen international ships in the canal for more or less eight years.
- The trapped vessels were called the Yellow Fleet because of the color their decks acquired from the desert sands.
- Years passed and the fleet formed its own community and trade system.
- The ships were finally allowed to depart in 1975.
Suez Canal Worksheets
This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Suez Canal across 22 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Suez Canal worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Suez Canal which is a waterway in Egypt that runs through the Isthmus of Suez, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. It was constructed by the Suez Canal Company and was officially opened on November 17, 1869.
Complete List Of Included Worksheets
- Suez Canal Facts
- Suez Canal Basics
- Defining Keywords
- Timeline Making
- Canal Correction
- Influential Explorers
- My Suez Sketch
- Center of Crisis
- Modern Egypt
- The World’s Waterways
- Fact Recap
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Link will appear as Suez Canal Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, February 6, 2020
Use With Any Curriculum
These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.