Strait of Hormuz
The World's Most Important Oil Chokepoint
One-fifth of global oil—$1.2 billion per day—transits a 39-km gap where Iran's coastal missiles can hold the world economy at ransom.
Chokepoints
The maritime straits and canals through which global trade and energy supplies must pass.
10 articles
Foundational
Strait of Malacca
Asia's Lifeline and Strategic Vulnerability
A ship transits every five minutes through the 2.7-km bottleneck near Singapore carrying one-third of global trade. Closure would cripple East Asia.
Taiwan Strait
The Most Dangerous Flashpoint on Earth
90% of advanced semiconductors are made on one side of this 130-km passage. A Chinese assault here would trigger the gravest global crisis since 1945.
Major Topics
Strait of Gibraltar
Britain seized the Rock in 1704 and never left. This 14-km gap between Europe and Africa still gates all Mediterranean access and 20% of world trade.
Suez Canal
Egypt's 193-km shortcut carries 12-15% of global trade. When blockages or wars shut it—as history repeatedly shows—the world economy convulses.
All Articles
Bab el-Mandeb
Houthi attacks proved this 26-km gap between Yemen and Djibouti can reroute global shipping—disrupting 10% of seaborne trade overnight.
Bosphorus Strait
At 700 meters wide, this Istanbul waterway decides if Russia's Black Sea fleet reaches open ocean or stays trapped—giving Turkey outsized leverage.
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope has connected the Atlantic and Indian Oceans for five centuries of maritime trade. Written off after the Suez Canal opened, the Cape Route has repeatedly reasserted its strategic necessity whenever the shorter path north is blocked or unsafe.
GIUK Gap
The Greenland-Iceland-UK Gap is the oceanic gateway between the Arctic and the open Atlantic — the passage through which Russian submarines must transit to threaten Western shipping lanes. During the Cold War it was NATO's most critical anti-submarine warfare battleground; today it is again.
Panama Canal
Drought, Chinese port deals, and booming demand are straining the lock system that saves global shipping the 13,000-km detour around Cape Horn.