Top 7 Longest Canals In The World

Canals are man-made waterways that were constructed to allow the passage of boats or convey water for irrigation. These canals sometimes connect the rivers, lakes or even the sea. Ancient cities used to be connected by water canals considering that this mode of transportation was more convenient at the time.

The construction of canals comes with its challenges and requires a huge amount of workforce due to how tedious the process is. It is not surprising to see canals to be completed in a very long time.

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Here we would like to share with you the top 7 longest canals in the world which play a crucial role in the modern world.

7. Erie Canal (584 KM)

Erie Canal in New York is part of the eastern-western pathway crossing the country from the New York State Canal System. It was built to make a water pathway from New York City and the Atlantic Ocean to Great Lakes that initially goes as far as 584 km from the Hudson River in Albany all the way to Lake Erie in Buffalo.

Completed in 1825, this canal increased the development and economy of cities in New York including Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, and NewYork City. This is all thanks to the salt transportation facility and other industries that were booming.

6. Indira Gandhi Canal (650 KM)

Previously known as Rajasthan Canal, The Indira Gandhi Canal is India's longest canal and one of the longest ones in the world. It provides irrigation for a region of about 6,800 sqkm of land.

It functions to make sure that the agriculture industry around it thrives ranging from wheat, cotton, and mustard. The canal carries water some 650 km from the Beas and Sutlej rivers in Punjab.

5. Manych Ship Canal (700 KM)

The Manych Ship Canal is a canal between the Black Sea lagoon and the biggest lake in the world, the Caspian Sea. The canal stretches across 700 km of land with it passing through the Manych-Gudilo Lake and the Veselovsky and Proletarskoe Reservoir and reaching the Caspian Sea.

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There have been suggestions to deepen and widen this canal to become 6.5 meters deep and 80 meters wide. This will ultimately increase the pathway capacity to more than 75 million tons of cargo each year.

This canal can be passed through by ships having a loading capacity of up to 10,000 tons.

4. Eurasia Canal (700 KM)

The Eurasia Canal is a 700 km canal that has been planned to connect the Caspian Sea with the Black Sea along the Kuma-Manych. At the time, the lake network and reservoir as well as the shallow Kuma-Manych can be found along this canal.

The completion of the Eurasia Canal has significantly increased the export of non-oil-and- gas products on top of providing more than 200,000 job opportunities in South Russia, Kazakhstan, and other regions by the Caspian.

Most of the cargo between China and the European Union which has a port in the Mediterranean Ocean will be carried through this canal.

3. Saimaa Canal (814 KM)

Saimaa Canal is a transportation canal that connects Saimaa Lake with the Finland Gulf close to Vyborg, Russia. This canal was built from 1845 until 1856 and was opened on 7 September 1856. It was later expanded in 1963 - 1968.

The water system of this canal connected 120 lakes in the south-central and southeast of Finland. It has a depth of at least 4.2 meters covering a huge area of 814 km.

2. Qaraqum Canal (1,375 KM)

Karakum Qanal or Qaraqum Canal is in the region of Turkmenistan and it is one of the biggest irrigation and water supply in the world. It started its construction in 1954 and was fully completed in 1988.

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It stretches for 1,375 km and carries roughly 12 cubic km of water each year from the Amu-Darya River across the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan. This canal opens new pathways for agriculture especially the cotton plantation that has been promoted by the Soviet Union.

However, the building of this canal also led to the Aral Sea being dried up.

1. Grand Canal (1,776 KM)

The Grand Canal or also known by the locals as Jing-Hang Waterway is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the longest canal in the world. Starting from Beijing, it crosses Tianjin and Hebei province, Shandong, Jiangsu, and Zheijang to Hangzhou city connecting the Yellow River and Yangtze River.

The oldest canal that was built was believed to be in the 5th century but various parts of the canal were first connected during Sui Dynasty (581 - 618 AD). This canal has been significantly improved throughout time and has provided water supply to various concentrated areas.

Source:

• Iluminasi

Also read: Top 5 Largest Rivers In The World