Suez canal – history and construction

short description of past and present of the Suez Canal.

1. Suez Canal – History And Construction Presented By- Rushna Farooq Shreya Nigam Shambhavi Shukla A Vital Route For World Trade

2. Suez Canal- An Introduction The Suez Canal located in Egypt, is a 101 mile (163 km) long canal that connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Gulf of Suez , a northern branch of the Red Sea. It officially opened in November 1869 . Suez Canal Traffic

3. History- Beginning First canal- constructed between the Nile River Delta and the Red Sea in the 13th Century B.C. During the 1,000 years following its construction, the original canal was neglected and its use finally stopped in the 8th Century.

4. History- Beginning ( contd .) The first modern attempts to build a canal came in the late 1700s when Napoleon Bonaparte conducted an expedition to Egypt. He believed that building a French controlled canal on the Isthmus of Suez would cause trade problems for the British. Napoleon Bonaparte

5. History- Beginning (contd .) Studies for Napoleon's canal plan began in 1799 but a miscalculation in measurement showed the sea levels between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea as being too different for a canal to be feasible and construction immediately stopped. In 1858, the Universal Suez Ship Canal Company was formed by Ferdinand de Lesseps and given the right to begin construction of the canal and operate it for 99 years. Ferdinand De Lesseps

6. The excavation took some 10 years using forced labour of Egyptian workers . Some sources estimate that over 30,000 people were working on the canal at any given period, that more than 1.5 million people from various countries were employed, and that thousands of labourers died. The canal opened under French control on 17 November 1869. 1881 Drawing Of The Suez Canal

7. Important Events Post 1956

8. The United States withdrew their pledge to support the construction of the Aswan Dam. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser responded by nationalizing the canal in 1956 This led to the Suez Crisis in which the UK, France, and Israel invaded Egypt. Suez Crisis

9. Arab–Israeli wars of 1967 and 1973 After the 1967 Six Day War, the canal was closed by an Egyptian blockade until 5 June 1975. As a result, 15 cargo ships, known as the "Yellow Fleet", were trapped in the canal for over eight years.

10. Layout ( Then And Now ) 1869 When built 164 km long and 8m deep Today 2016 193.30 km long, 24 m deep and 205 metres wide The New Suez Canal , functional since 6 August 2015,currently has a new parallel canal in the middle part, with its length over 35 km.

11. Capacity The canal allows passage of ships up to 20 m (66 ft) draft or 240,000 deadweight tons and up to a height of 68 m (223 ft) above water level. Navigation The canal has no locks. the canal has no sea surge gates. Around 8% of world sea trade is carried via the canal. Future projects : Six new tunnels for cars and trains are also planned across the canal.

12. What was the need? The need for new market for goods and raw materials prompted merchants to seek a shorter route to the east. Prior the opening of the canal ships travelling Europe and Asia had to sail around the cape of good hope which took 120 days.

13. Impact On World Trade Post Construction Decreased road between Europe and south Asia from 16000 km to 10000 km. Reduced fuel payments. Strengthens the power of Egypt in world economy. It is beneficial for world economy and it empowers the globalization process .

14. Impact On India Provided a direct ship route between India and Britain avoiding the need to go via the African continent. The cost of transportation decreased significantly. Surplus generated was used for administrative and war purposes. This led to the drain of Indian wealth to the Britain . Positive effects Negative effects

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