English ChannelEnglish Channel

The name English Channel has been widely used since the early 18th century, possibly originating from the designation Engelse Kanaal in Dutch sea maps from the 16th century onwards.

In modern Dutch however, it is known as Het Kanaal . Historically, it has also been known as the British Channel. The French name la Manche has been in use since at least the

17th century. The name is usually said to refer to the Channel's sleeve shape.

Name :Name :

IntroductionIntroduction

The English Channel (French: la Manche, Breton: Mor Breizh, Cornish: Mor Bretannek), often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of  the  Atlantic Ocean that  separates  southern England from  northern France,  and  joins  the North Sea to the Atlantic. 

It  is  about  560 km  (350 mi)  long  and  varies  in width  from  240 km  (150 mi)  at  its  widest  to 33.1 km (20.6 mi) in the Strait of Dover. 

Its width gradually narrows from 112 miles (180 kilometres) to a minimum of 21 miles.

Its average depth decreases from 400 to 150 feet (120 to 45 metres) .

Between the English and French coasts lies an area of submerged lands, now covered by the English Channel .

This  area  had  a  significant  role  to  play  during  the  prehistory  of  north-west Europe.

Before the end of Ice age North Sea and British Isles were covered with Ice. The  Channel  has  been  both  an  easy  for  seafaring  people  and  key  natural defence  halting  invading  armies.  Many  failed  in  attempting  to  invade  the British Isles but the Romans were successful.

Channel also served as a link joining shared cultures and political structures. The Channel is far more densely populated on the English shore 

History:History:

The Channel has traffic on both the UK-Europe and North Sea-Atlantic routes, and is the world's busiest seaway, with over 500 ships per day.

Following an accident in January 1971 and a series of disastrous collisions with wreckage in February, the Dover Traffic Separation System (TSS) the world's first radar controlled TSS was set up by the International Maritime Organization .

The scheme mandates that vessels traveling north must use the French side, traveling south the English side.

There is a separation zone between the two lanes .

Shipping:Shipping:

There are 13 Ferry routes between the Channel. Many travelers cross beneath the Channel using the Channel Tunnel . The Channel Tunnel is a 50.5 km undersea rail tunnel linking Kent in U.K to

Coquelles in France. The tunnel carries high-speed Eurostar passenger trains, Eurotunnel Shuttle roll-

on/roll-off vehicle transport—the largest in the world—and international rail freight trains.

TransportationTransportation::

Interesting Facts: As one of the narrowest but most famous

international waterways lacking dangerous currents, the Channel has been the first objective of numerous innovative sea, air, and human powered crossing technologies.

First Person known to cross English Channel was Matthew Webb on 25 August 1875 in 21 hrs, 45 min.

By the end of 2005, 811 people had completed 1,185 verified crossings.

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