Geographical Impacts of the Suez and Panama Canals

Planned by the French but constructed by the British, the Suez Canal opened in 1869. It represents, along with the Panama Canal, one of the most significant maritime "shortcuts" ever built. It brought a new era of European influence in Pacific Asia by reducing the journey from Asia to Europe by about 6,000 km by skipping a detour around the Cape of Good Hope. Asia became more commercially accessible and colonial trade expanded as a result of increased interactions because of a reduced friction of distance. Great Britain, the maritime power of the time, benefited substantially from this improved access. For instance, the Suez Canal shortened the distance on a maritime journey from London to Bombay by 41% and shortened the distance on a journey from London to Shanghai by 32%.

From a contemporary perspective, the strategic importance of the Suez Canal endures, particularly because of the Middle Eastern oil trade and the Pacific Asian commercial trade. The journey from the Persian Gulf to the Northern European range is particularly impacted by the Suez Canal as a 21,000 km journey around Africa taking 24 days is reduced to a 12,000 km journey taking 14 days.

The Panama Canal, completed in 1914, considerably shortens the maritime distances between the American East and West coasts by a factor of 13,000 km.