What two seas does the Suez Canal connect? Next to the Panama Canal the Suez Canal is the one most heard of. Each canal cuts in two an isthmus (s´ms) connecting two continents. Name the continents in each case. The Suez Canal is 87 miles long, but 21 miles of it is lakes. It runs through level, sandy country, as you see in the view. It was therefore much easier to dig than the Panama Canal, which cuts through the Cordilleras Mountains. It was built by De Lesseps (d l´sps´) a French engineer, who afterwards laid out the first Panama Canal. It was opened to trade in 1869. The part of the canal you see here is 213 feet wide. On the curves it is wider. Why? It is 36 feet deep so that great ocean liners can go through it. About 5,000 vessels pass through it every year. Three-fifths of these are British. The British Government a goodly part of the stock invested in the Canal. It is the highway between England and her colonies of India and Australia. Besides, Egypt itself is under British control. For these reasons England feels she must control the Canal and also Gibraltar (j-brl´tår) at the western end of the Mediterranean (md -tr-´ n-n) Sea. On the walls of the temple of Karnak, Egypt, is a picture showing that there was a canal across the Isthmus of Suez in olden times. So you are looking on historic ground in the view. The Red Sea is the very same through which Moses led the children of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land. On your left hand is Africa, on your right is Asia. Between the two go the ships of all nations through the canal. Trace a cargo of meat from Sydney, Australia, to London, England. What countries border on the Suez Canal? Keystone ID: 17020 Note: All titles, descriptions, and location coordinates are from the original Keystone Slide documentation as supplied by the Keystone View Company. No text has been edited or changed.