Strait of Hormuz
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Map Of Strait of Hormuz |
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Map Of Iran |
The
Strait of Hormuz (, ) is a narrow, strategically important stretch of
ocean between the
Gulf of Oman in the southeast and the
Persian Gulf in the southwest. On the north coast is
Iran (
Persia) and on the south coast is the
United Arab Emirates and an
exclave of
Oman.
The
strait at its narrowest is 21 miles wide [
1], having two 1 mile wide channels for marine traffic separated by a 2 mile wide buffer zone [
2], and is the only sea passage to the open ocean for large areas of the
petroleum exporting
Persian Gulf States.
The opening to the Persian Gulf was described, but not given a name, in the
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a 1st-century mariner's guide:
Ch.35. At the upper end of these Calaei islands is a range of mountains called Calon, and there follows not far beyond, the mouth of the Persian Gulf, where there is much diving for the pearl-mussel. To the left of the straits are great mountains called Asabon, and to the right there rises in full view another round and high mountain called Semiramis; between them the passage across the strait is about six hundred stadia; beyond which that very great and broad sea, the Persian Gulf, reaches far into the interior. At the upper end of this Gulf there is a market-town designated by law called Apologus, situated near Charax Spasini and the River Euphrates.
There are two opinions about the etymology of this name. In popular belief the derivation is from the name of the Persian God هرمز
Hormoz (a variant of
Ahura Mazda). Compare the
Pillars of Hercules at the entrance to the Mediterranean. Scholars, historians and linguists derive the name "Ormuz" from the local
Persian word هورمغ
Hur-mogh meaning datepalm. In the local dialects of Hurmoz and Minab this strait is still called Hurmogh and has the abovementioned meaning.
Operation Praying Mantis
On 18 April 1988, the U.S. Navy waged a one-day battle against Iranian forces in and around the strait. The battle, dubbed
Operation Praying Mantis by the U.S. side, was launched in retaliation for the
14 April mining of the
USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58). U.S. forces sank two Iranian warships and as many as six armed speedboats in the engagement.
The downing of Iran Air 655
On
July 3,
1988, 290 people were killed when an
Iran Air Airbus A300 passenger jet was shot down over the strait by the
United States Navy guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes. There is still
lingering controversy about the event, considered among the most controversial tragedies in
aviation history.
*
Abu Musa island
*
List of islands of Iran*
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea*
Strait of Hormuz website: includes antique maps
*
Federation of American Scientists about the weapons on the islands [
3]
