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Strait of Hormuz
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For other uses, see Hormuz Island.

The Strait of Hormuz (red arrow) relative to the Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf.

Blue arrows illustrate the strait's Traffic Separation Scheme.

Satellite image

Map of Strait of Hormuz with maritime political boundaries (2004)

Historical map of the area (1892)
The Strait of Hormuz /h?r?mu?z/ (Persian: ???? ???? Tangeh-ye Hormoz, Arabic: ???? ????‎ Ma??q Hurmuz) is a narrow, strategically important waterway between the Gulf of Oman in the southeast and the Persian Gulf. On the north coast is Iran and on the south coast is the United Arab Emirates and Musandam, an exclave of Oman.
The strait at its narrowest is 54 kilometres (34 mi) wide.[1] It is the only sea passage to the open ocean for large areas of the petroleum-exporting Persian Gulf. About 13 tankers carrying 15.5 million barrels (2,460,000 m3) of crude oil pass through the strait on an average day, making it one of the world's most strategically important choke points. This represents 33% of the world's seaborne oil shipments, and 17% of all world oil shipments in 2009.[2]
Contents [hide]
1 Navigation
2 Etymology
3 Events
3.1 Operation Praying Mantis
3.2 The downing of Iran Air 655
3.3 Collision between USS Newport News and tanker Mogamigawa
3.4 Tensions in 2008
3.4.1 2008 US-Iranian naval dispute
3.4.2 Iranian threats
3.4.3 Naval activity in 2008
3.5 Collision between USS Hartford and USS New Orleans
4 See also
5 References
6 Further reading
7 External links
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