MAP MODULE: WORLD MAPPING
Part I
IMPORTANT STRAITS OF THE WORLD(including Straits in news)
1. Strait of Malacca
o Connects the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) and the South China Sea (Pacific Ocean).
o Runs between the Indonesian island of Sumatra and peninsular (West) Malaysia and extreme
southern Thailand to the east.
2. Palk Strait
It is an inlet of the Bay of Bengal between southeastern India and northern Sri Lanka.
It is bounded on the south by Pamban Island (India), Adam’s (Rama’s) Bridge (a chain of
shoals), the Gulf of Mannar, and Mannar Island (Sri Lanka).
It connects the Bay of Bengal in the northeast with the Gulf of Mannar in the southwest.
The southwestern portion of the strait is also called Palk Bay.
The strait is named after Robert Palk, who was a governor of Madras Presidency (1755-1763)
during the Company Raj period.
The strait is 40 to 85 miles wide, 85 miles long, and less than 330 feet (100 metres) deep.
It receives several rivers, including the Vaigai (India), and it contains many islands on the Sri
Lankan side.
The port of Jaffna, the commercial centre for northern Sri Lanka, lies on the strait.
3. Strait of Hormuz
It is a narrow waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula, specifically the United Arab
Emirates, and Musandam (Oman).
The Gulf of Oman is on the strait’s east, while the Persian Gulf is on the west.
It is the only sea channel linking the oil-rich Persian Gulf (west) with the Gulf of Oman and
the Arabian Sea (southeast).
Iran is located on the north coast, while the UAE is on the south coast.
The strait is 167 kilometers long.
4. Bosporous Strait
5. Strait of Gibraltar
6. Strait of Bab el Mandab
It is strait between Arabia (northeast) and Africa (southwest) that connects the Red Sea
(northwest) with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean (southeast).
It forms a vital strategic link in the maritime trade route between the Mediterranean Sea
and the Indian Ocean via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
It is one of the world’s most important routes for global seaborne commodity shipments,
particularly crude oil and fuel.
It is bordered by Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and Djibouti and Eritrea on the African
coast.
7. Strait of Dover
8. Kerch Strait
The Kerch Strait is in Eastern Europe and is the only water body that connects the Black Sea
with the Sea of Azov.
The Romans called it the Strait of Cimmerian Bosphorus. In Greek, it was known as the
Cimmerian strait.
It separates the Kerch Peninsula (part of the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula) towards
the west from the Taman Peninsula (Russia), lying in the east.
9. Sunda Strait
The Sunda Strait is a strait which is between the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java.
This strait connects the Java Sea with the Indian Ocean.
The name comes from the Sunda Kingdom, a kingdom that rules the western part of Java.
It also comes from the name of the Sundanese, the indigenous people of West Java, and the
Javanese are found mainly in Central and East Java.
10. Bering Strait
The Bering Strait is a narrow waterway linking the Pacific and Arctic Oceans and separating
the Chukchi Peninsula in the Russian Far East from the Seward Peninsula in Alaska.
Part II
Important Seas and their countries Boundaries
1. Mediterranean Sea
2. Black Sea
3. Red Sea
4. Caspian Sea
5. Aral Sea
6. Dead Sea
7. Baltic Sea
8. North Sea
Part Three
Important Parallels Passing through which countries
1. Tropic of Cancer
2. Tropic of Capricorn
3. Equator