An inlet of the Bay of Bengal, the strait is named after Robert Palk, an 18th century governor of Madras. Lying between the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the Mannar district of Sri Lanka, the Palk Strait is 85 miles long and 40 to 85 miles wide. Adam's Bridge, also known as Rama's Bridge or Rama Setu, a 30-mile long chain of natural limestone shoals, lies between the Palk Strait and Gulf of Mannar and makes navigation of the strait extremely difficult.
2. Australia and New Guinea
Answer: Torres Strait
Also known as Zenadh Kes, the strait is named after Luis Vaz de Torres, a Spanish navigator who sailed through it in 1606. Linking the Coral Sea with the Arafura Sea and Gulf of Carpentaria, the strait is 94 miles miles wide at its narrowest and at most 50 feet deep.
There are 274 Torres Strait Islands, 17 of them permanently inhabited. The Torres Strait Islanders are ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal peoples of mainland Australia. The shallowness of the strait and the number of reefs and islands make the strait difficult to navigate.
3. North Island and South Island, New Zealand
Answer: Cook Strait
Also known as Te Moana-o-Raukaura, the strait takes its English name from Captain James Cook, who sailed through it in 1770. Lined with steep cliffs on both sides it is considered to be among the most dangerous and unpredictable waters in the world. The 16-mile swim between the two islands is part of the Oceans Seven marathon swimming challenge, the swimming equivalent of the Seven Summits mountaineering challenge.
4. Java and Sumatra
Answer: Sunda Strait
The Sunda strait connects the Java Sea with the Indian Ocean and takes its name from the former Sunda kingdom. For hundreds of years it was an important shipping route but nowadays its narrowness, shallowness, strong tidal currents and sandbanks make it difficult to navigate.
There are a number of islands of volcanic origin in the strait. The eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 drastically altered the strait's topography.
5. Greenland and Iceland
Answer: Denmark Strait
Also known as the Greenland Strait, the Denmark Strait extends southwards for about 300 miles from the Greenland Sea to the open waters of the North Atlantic. The Denmark Sea Cataract, located on the western part of the strait, is the world's highest undersea waterfall and the largest waterfall on earth, being more than three times the height of Angel Falls.
6. Great Britain and France
Answer: Strait of Dover
The Strait of Dover is the narrowest part of the English Channel which separates the island of Great Britain from continental Europe. It is the busiest shipping route in the world. The distance between Dover and Cap Gris Nez in France is only 21 miles and is the traditional route for cross-Channel swimmers.
7. Corsica and Sardinia
Answer: Strait of Bonifacio
The strait divides the Tyrrhenian Sea from the Mediterranean and takes its name from the Corsican town of Bonifacio. It is 6.8 miles wide and has a maximum depth of 330 feet. Corsica and Sardinia were once joined together and the volcanic activity that separated them left large shards of granite which, together with the wrecks of ships that came to grief and prevalence of strong winds, make navigating the strait extremely hazardous.
8. Italy and Albania
Answer: Strait of Otranto
Taking its name from the Italian city of Otranto, the strait connects the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. It is about 500 miles long with an average width of 100 miles. It was the site of a major naval battle in 1917.
9. Europe and Africa
Answer: Strait of Gibraltar
Known in antiquity as the Pillars of Hercules, the Strait of Gibraltar connects the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea and separates the Iberian Peninsula from Morocco. One of the world's busiest waterways, the strait is only about eight miles wide at its narrowest point.
10. Asia and North America
Answer: Bering Strait
Taking its name from Vitus Bering, a Danish explorer in the service of the Russian Empire who entered it in 1728, the strait separates the Russian Chukchi Peninsula and the Alaskan Seward Peninsula. During the Cold War the Bering Strait marked the border between the USA and USSR.
The American island of Little Diomede and the Russian Big Diomede are only 2.4 miles apart. The strait has a minimum width of 52 miles and an average depth of 160 feet. It is theorised that humans migrated from Asia to North America via the strait when much lower sea levels exposed a land bridge.
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