The Suez Canal

Back in the age of imperialism, the opening of the Suez Canal would be one of the biggest factors in the expansion of empires and commerce. With its opening, a much faster sea route to China and India would be available, and global trade exploded because of the new accessibility. In today's world, the Suez Canal still plays a huge part in trade and commerce between Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The canal is controlled by the Suez Canal Authority, which is a non-nationalistic organization that controls and runs the canal and examines the commerce and goods that goes through the canal. It is a relatively small canal as it can only allow one ship at a time to pass through its waters, yet it is still one of the largest shipping waterways in the world. Still today is supports about eight percent of the entire world's shipping traffic, and almost fifty ships pass through it daily. It still supports the transport of goods from Mediterranean Sea to the Gulf of Suez, which is right next to the Indian Ocean. Goods are passed through from Europe to Asia in masses, and it ranks as one of the most widely used and important waterways in the shipping industry today.