The English Channel
| English Channel | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Location | Western Europe; between the Celtic Sea and North Sea |
| Coordinates | 50°N 02°W / 50°N 2°WCoordinates: 50°N 02°W / 50°N 2°W |
| Part of | Atlantic Ocean |
| Primary inflows | River Exe, River Seine, River Test, River Tamar, River Somme |
| Basin countries |
United Kingdom France Guernsey Jersey |
| Max. length | 560 km (350 mi) |
| Max. width | 240 km (150 mi) |
| Surface area | 75,000 km2 (29,000 sq mi) |
| Average depth | 63 m (207 ft) |
| Max. depth | 174 m (571 ft) at Hurd's Deep |
| Salinity | 3.4–3.5% |
| Max. temperature | 15 °C (59 °F) |
| Min. temperature | 5 °C (41 °F) |
| Islands | Île de Bréhat, Île de Batz, Chausey, Tatihou, Îles Saint-Marcouf, Isle of Wight, Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm |
| Settlements | Bournemouth, Brighton, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Calais, Le Havre |
The English Channel (French: la Manche, "The Sleeve"; German: Ärmelkanal, "Sleeve Channel"; Breton: Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; Cornish: Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"), also called simply the Channel, is the body of water that separates southern England from northern France, and links the southern part of the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. It is the busiest shipping area in the world.
It is about 560 km (350 mi) long and varies in width from 240 km (150 mi) at its widest to 33.3 km (20.7 mi) in the Strait of Dover. It is the smallest of the shallow seas around the continental shelf of Europe, covering an area of some 75,000 km2 (29,000 sq mi).
The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the English Channel as follows:
The IHO defines the southwestern limit of the North Sea as "a line joining the Walde Lighthouse (France, 1°55'E) and Leathercoat Point (England, 51°10'N)". The Walde Lighthouse is 6 km east of Calais (50°59′06″N 1°55′00″E / 50.98500°N 1.91667°E), and Leathercoat Point is at the north end of St Margaret's Bay, Kent (51°10′00″N 1°24′00″E / 51.16667°N 1.40000°E).
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