The Suez Canal: Foundation, Crisis and Beyond

​Technically speaking, the Suez Canal is the artificial waterway running north to south across the Isthmus of Suez in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. The Canal separates the African continent from Asia, while providing the shortest sea route between Europe and the Indian and western Pacific oceans.
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Credits:
Host - Simon Whistler
Author - Arnaldo Teodorani
Producer - Jennifer Da Silva
Executive Producer - Shell Harris
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[@Blunderbuss09]

"The risks of silting, neglect, abandonment, or shutdown are off the table." Evergreen: Hold my beer.

[@GregIsBoring]

ever given*

[@lukas430000]

@@GregIsBoring evergreen is a owner of the ever given so can be used interchangeably

[@GregIsBoring]

@@lukas430000 I noticed after I said that but thank you

[@MDVMike]

That aged like milk :D haha

[@crusherbmx]

Who ever can free the Ever Given should get the statue

[@mikeshandtightgarage4893]

Lol get started bc it took over 10 ships diggers ect. That's alot of statues

[@mikeblair3499]

Being the primary reason the Ever Given was freed, I am 100% all for building the Statue of Liberty on the Moon

[@joannajaworska0000]

It's been freed by a Dutch company which specializes in digging out huge vessels stucked in shallow water.

[@mikeshandtightgarage4893]

@@joannajaworska0000 lol no bro the tides came in and got it out of there. Plain and simple

[@RichO1701e]

@@joannajaworska0000 While they did indeed contribute, it was re-floated mainly thanks to the exceptional high tide due to alignment of the Moon and Sun's gravitational force pulling a higher than normal tide

[@andrewboaz1]

Anyone else have this video in their recommendations while the evergreen ship is stuck in the canal?

[@stephenabhang4438]

me

[@saburoemon]

No

[@andrewfelsher7872]

"Andrews who watched a Geographics video on the Suez canal during the Evergreen memepocolypse" is the most exclusive club I'll ever claim membership in.

[@andrewboaz1]

@@andrewfelsher7872 I'm super proud to be a part of this club.

[@brandonjc13]

Ever Given*

[@thewhatshouldmynameb]

who else is here cause of the boat that's stuck in the suez right now

[@jamiengo2343]

Ship

[@hazelynpascua6667]

lols. 🙋🏻‍♀️ Also, I got a lot curious about international trade bcos of that incident.

[@jamiengo2343]

@@hazelynpascua6667 it’s amazing really what we end up knowing after a certain event. For example after the whole GameStop thing everyone suddenly gained a quick education in how Wall Street works

[@SchwartzerAdler]

2021: Enter - a giant cargo ship stuck in the canal and blocking 12% of global marine trade. Good times...

[@bombercountyblues]

I'm not a conspiracy theorist by any means, but a combination of bad weather, human error and technical difficulties jacknifing one of the world's longest ships, right at the narrowest point of the most important shipping lane to the world economy... Seems like a bit too much of a perfect storm doesn't it?

[@nono-fb8tr]

@@bombercountyblues it does not. You're being paranoid everything you mentioned is normal Murpheys Law stuff

[@isaacgrimes8230]

@@bombercountyblues Bad weather is out of our control, so might as well ignore this as a factor that could’ve been manipulated. We can consider it in conjunction with human error, as poor weather probably doesn’t do the captains blood pressures any favor. If a ship was going to get stuck in such a canal, wouldn’t it make sense that the most likely opportunity for that to happen would be when the ship is in the narrowest location?

[@hw664]

@@bombercountyblues you answered your own paranoia within your statement. One of the worlds longest ships, in the narrowest part of the canal. It's highly likely that if something was going to go wrong, that's the location in which it would happen.

[@joannajaworska0000]

@@isaacgrimes8230 Ever given was filled with containers, immersed very deep in water. A ship sails north, but the wind blows from west to east. The whole wall of cargo works like a sail, besides steering her is not like driving a car. It takes approx 5 sec. for a ship to change direction, the skipper takes an order from a captain who repeats pilot's command. The ship had just a few metres space from each side of canal. Well, one false move and it happened.

[@murf1627]

Who’s going to win, a global trade artery, conceived thousands of years ago, which has endured the fickle nature of geopolitical conflict for centuries; or one diagonal floaty boi?

[@twilightgryphon]

If we're talking a statue then I say we go big and recreate the ancient statue of the Colossus of Rhodes, bring back one of the seven ancient wonders of the world.

[@patwest1815]

You mean gigantic. The Colossus of Rhodes stood with one leg on each side of the entrance to the harbor.

[@twilightgryphon]

@@patwest1815 you're splitting hairs. Point is, it's big, it's bold, and you sure as hell won't miss it.

[@patwest1815]

@@twilightgryphon I know, I wasn't trying to cast stones at you, I just wonder how hard it would be to construct and what the size would actually be. It would be cool though.

[@johnkim7802]

Good idea!

[@worldview730]

Why not just float it in outer space for all to see, including the angels from above?

[@johnthomas2485]

Didn't notice the publication date, was hoping he was going to talk about the ship that got stuck.

[@rbblackmoore5960]

"A general with a fantastic name, Kress Von Kressenstein." Well said!

[@paulinotou]

That honestly made me laugh.

[@docvideo93]

France: We will build a canal in Suez Britain: No you won't France: *builds canal* Britain: *shocked Pikachu face*

[@ryan-tc3rk]

Eisenhower: *yells angrily at Britain"

[@tensevo]

I don't think the French built it, they did finance part of it from what I could make out.

[@djumoja]

The canal was first dug in the mideaval times

[@dankorcz8158]

"Never De Lesseps" 10/10 pun, I approve

[@AvoidTheCadaver]

I snorted when Simon chuckled at his own pun

[@AcornElectron]

Christ, are there any channels on KZbin that aren’t presented by Simon Whistler?

[@pirat9750]

Retro Jeegee well the Suez channel is, but the Panama one? Not so shre

[@TheSaucysdead113]

I hope not

[@LogieT2K]

Retro Jeegee simon is all conquering, simon is everywhere, simon is inevitiable, you cannot escape him because simon is god

[@timhocking529]

Hey V Sauce Here

[@pirat9750]

Prince Otter Channel2 u didn’t get the joke did you

[@gsacelm7753]

When the Brits and French unite under a cause you know you did something seriously wrong.

[@HgHg-yp6ft]

They were close allies since the times right after Napoleon, Crimean war, Opium wars against China, WWI and WWII to mention few, ah and Suez crisis included.

[@Brinta3]

Concorde, Canal Tunnel. They secretly love each other.

[@piuthemagicman]

@@Brinta3 ahem, the New York statue of liberty is a gift from... France.

[@Brinta3]

@@piuthemagicman I have no idea why you are saying ‘ahem’ as if you are correcting me somehow. Also, we were talking about the UK and France, and the Statue of Liberty was gifted to the USA.

[@tensevo]

The British will ally with anyone, if there is money to be made.

[@bonefetcherbrimley7740]

I'd like to see a massive metal Egyptian warrior at the entrance of the Suez Canal, standing over it, arms readied to defend it. And its so big, you make the ships go between its legs.

[@Slavicplayer251]

like bravos in game of thrones

[@vulpes7079]

They'd keep looking at his skirt

[@UberWolfKing]

Can we get a episode on one of your many fantastic channels focused on the "Yellow Fleet"?

[@desert_jin6281]

Seconded. I've read excerpts in english and german about it but nothing that tells the entire story.

[@mrraulduke]

There is an episode of a podcast called '99% invisible' that did a short episode on the yellow fleet. Episode 376 - great bitter lake association.

[@risannd]

Real Life Lore has done it.

[@mattiallmi5839]

There is a very good Buisness Blaze video about the yellow fleet. Go check it out, it's worth it.

[@69johndz]

I like your videos, but I could really use more maps. Sometimes it is difficult to picture all the progress and changes to these geographical locations without a map in front of me. Plus, I think it is more entertaining.

[@hannahskipper2764]

British: no, we don't want that. We're not going to fund it. No, no, no. Years later: we'll take that now.

[@jordank1489]

How Great Empires are built - the forceful acquisition of infrastructure

[@tensevo]

By take that you mean, buy stock from indebted Egypt? Britain bought 44% from financially distressed Egypt, but Egypt took it back after regime change, ....through force. Ok, you don't want to bankroll something or throw good money after bad, but a bargain? everyone loves a bargain.

[@audiosurfarchive]

_lofi/chill beats to dig 160km of Canal to_

[@anewspinonthings]

AudiosurfDocumentor id listen to that playlist

[@ajaxrosso1]

1:28 you got some sort of sound bug

[@ShaneRounce]

Best bit of the video.

[@COIcultist]

Not for me but at 6.07 things go off the scale.

[@F0X_H0UND]

the bass dropped too hard and killed the sound

[@ajaxrosso1]

@@drogbafan097 lol what??

[@alfymiami]

That is the only pause of the narration in the whole video.

[@Naval_Monkey]

Well that explains why I was getting this video recommended

[@evilchaosboy]

rewatching cause there is one BIG BOAT causing BIGGER problems...One BIG STUCK boat blocking the WHOLE canal!! This here is for historical records and I do expect to be credited for my efforts...even though the boat (not ship) has and will be stuck for a full 7 day week. Hey! chaos reporters may not be first on scene (went to Panama canal first) but by gumit, we do get to the scene!

[@johnbava3]

Wow, I never knew the Ancient Egyptians had their own version of the canal even though it was quite different than the modern version. Simon does a great job ensuring I learn something new every day!

[@bertiepimplebum5633]

A statue of a man leaning on a shovel looking downward at the task at hand. (UK)

[@UKinQ8Gaming]

Who would have ever thought the giant statue would be a giant cargo ship 😂 im happy this came up as i hadnt seen this one despite being an OG

[@sandybarnes887]

No statue. How about rebuilding the Lighthouse?

[@whiskeytangosierra6]

Ditto on your suggestion.

[@koantao8321]

The lighthouse, now in Port Fouad, across from Port Said, is still standing and is the first concrete building in the world. However, it is useless now because landfills put it far from the sea.

[@cen7ury]

I feel like a statue of grumpy cat would be particularly appropriate for the canal.

[@aaronlaing4244]

bit of foreshadow there

[@cen7ury]

@@aaronlaing4244 hey, I do what I can, when I can, for whom I can...

[@littlecrookedhouse]

Simon, thanks for the geography lesson. I remember the 6 Day War, and even wrote a not-so-good song about it. In my US school, Geography was a rather scatter-shot subject, and didn't teach anything about the middle east except the names of the countries.

[@fearlessfried001]

Thought I knew all about the the Suez Canal. Surprised to learn about the “The Yellow Fleet”! Great stuff 👏👏👏👏👍👍👍👍

[@hds66nl29]

Fun fact: there were 15 ships of which 2 german, the 2 German ships were the only 2 ships to return home on their own power. That is what's called Deutsche gründlichkeit.

[@fearlessfried001]

Koen van Ginneken No argument from me 👍👍👍

[@o.k.productions5202]

It’s big, it’s busy, and it’s the cite of the largest traffic jam in history🤣 Please do a video on said traffic jam.

[@EarlJohn61]

*site... Lol 🤠🤠🤠

[@crazeelazee7524]

Very funny KZbin. Apparently algorithms can have a sense of humor

[@christophermerlot3366]

You seriously made this vid without mentioning Lester B. Pearson? The only Canadian to be awarded the Nobel Peace for his work in diffusing the Suez crisis and future PM. Huge oversight.

[@hussainzakir1]

They give those thing out like sweet now anyways, even Obama and Aung San Suu Kyi have one.

[@BluntedZephyr]

@@hussainzakir1 and like Obama and Aung San Suu Kyi, they accomplished what no-other has done before them and you're opinion doesnt have any meaning to Merlot's perception that not-mentioning the creator the U.N. Peace Keeper is a huge oversight. Pearson had so-much clout with skilled diplomacy, the Queen allowed him to act on her behalf without need to consult her.

[@paulgodbey304]

This is a fact that mostly Canadians would know and not likely anyone else. Simon appears to be from the UK.

[@DrPlatypus1]

Not mentioning a Canadian is never a huge oversight.

[@valiroime]

@hussainzakir1: And we know which current US president will NEVER be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize, don’t we?

[@jeff4son]

Watching this on 3/24/21. I just did some googling and there is a cargo ship grounded blocking the entire canal. What strange timing.

[@GrumpyYank26]

Bourladoue? Caught ya! It's BourDaLoue! Since your video's are otherwise perfect I thought it fun to catch you. Good work!

[@darmy9548]

Found this randomly last year.. Found it intentionally this year due to the crisis lol

[@motorcyclelad]

I hope something unexpected never gets lodged in there. Can’t imagine what that would do to the economy...

[@jjomalley6307]

You should do one on the Aral Sea.

[@thegrayyernaut]

They did the Russian Anthrax Island which was in the Aral Sea. So that's something. Though they didn't cover why the Aral Sea disappeared.

[@noicrtm4472]

RealLifeLore has a video on this

[@markgigiel2722]

It didn't come with free shipping. You needed to sign up for Suez Prime for that.

[@jamesclendon4811]

Funny. Stupid, but funny.

[@Richdbiskit]

This is why Britain didn't help America in the Vietnam war not long after this. USA were like "Britain please help us, we're stuck in the jungle" and we were like "Suez???"

[@patwest1815]

I would say both were right in their decisions.

[@stenbak88]

Not at all we should not have been there so our Congress did not invade

[@VeteranR]

Funnily enough as well. Britain offered the US advice and training on how to win an insurgency in the jungles since they themselves just finished fighting a 12-year long jungle insurgency known as the Malayan Emergency. The USA told Britain to piss off because unless they were sending troops they didn't want their advice. 🤣

[@angelitabecerra]

I think a statue of Pharoah Senausret III should be the one erected at the Suez Canal as he's the first to dig that channel.

[@EarlJohn61]

Good idea, put it at the point where his canal departed the Nile.

[@fsulitskiy]

Jamal and Kress Von Kressenstein, the dream team, how could they fail?!

[@joanneoliver8610]

Never De Lesseps...I had to pause the video I laughed so hard! :D

[@lesleeherschfus707]

You didn’t mention that the opera Aida was commissioned, and written by Verdi in honor of the opening of the canal in 1870

[@jamesclendon4811]

When he talked about the six week celebration, I was sure he would mention that.

[@narrakasa81194]

Okay. I'm confused. When did it go from BC and AD to BCE and CE. I'm not religious but I assumed BC & AD were commonly accepted. Also in this video you go from one to the other and back again...

[@kesbro1]

A statue of Senausret III at one end should mark the start of the dream and project covering thousands of years and at the other end there should be one depicting a humble worker in modern gear respecting all those who worked and died on the project before it's final success.

[@DannyHeywood]

After the 4 days fighting, how were the Ottomans going to walk home through a desert to get more water because they ran out?

[@randowdude6847]

They werent, most of then at least

[@sethmurry4712]

It's BC before Christ and AD after death not before current ERA and current ERA PS I'm smashing the dislike button on this video

[@statnoise5843]

Great video, could you guys do a similar history of the Panama Canal and also perhaps the Bering Strait?

[@jefferyrobinson9984]

Why does he add a r after every word ending in a? Example idear instead of idea. I have no idear why.🤔

[@theatheistmonk4385]

Alan Whicker did the same thing.

[@nono-fb8tr]

It's part of a regional accent

[@nicklewis1475]

When did we start abbreviating BC for BCE?.... ridiculous, be telling me Burma no longer exists next

[@catatonicbug7522]

BC is the older term - "Before Christ". BCE is rather new, in a politically correct way to be respectful to non-christians, by saying "Before Common Era. They both mean the same thing, and are used interchangeably.

[@joshuahawkenson9114]

A statue of Cecil Rhodes doing his famous poster pose 😂

[@m2heavyindustries378]

Telegraph wire in hand!!

[@WartsG]

My only complaint about this channel is the lack of actual geographics, where are the maps? I love your channel and every video I have seen so far though.

[@delorbb2298]

It would have been nice to see the various canals that had been built on screen. Not the actual canals, just their locations.

[@EarlJohn61]

Would have been brilliant to see the actual canals...

[@slpkenney]

Well, now we need a video about the Panama Canal

[@JohnDoe-jj3wt]

Yes we’re all here for the same reason in 2021 😂 The ship 🚢 thats stuck

[@sputumtube]

Statues at either side of the entrance to the canal should be of Darth Vader and Darth Sideous, each a thousand feet tall. Can you imagine archealogogists many hundreds of years from now scratching their heads and saying to each other "who the f**k ARE these people"? Lol.. ;)

[@spritemon98]

Woah what?? There were several canals before the Suez canal!? That's amazing!! Why is non of this taught??

[@toomanyjstoomanyrs1705]

So, using C.E, instead of A.D.then goes ahead and references the Holy Land. I thought it was funny.

[@blyatman3725]

You got a sound bug

[@claudiobizama5603]

Congrats for 100k subs tho

[@MrVvulf]

A good candidate for a statue would be Ma'at, the Egyptian goddess of truth, justice, harmony, and balance (a concept known as ma'at in Egyptian). Ma'at first appears during the period known as the Old Kingdom. Ma'at is considered the foundation upon which Egyptian society was built. The Egyptians believed strongly that every individual was responsible for his or her own life and that life should be lived with other people and the earth in mind. In the same way that the gods cared for humanity, so should humans care for each other and the earth which they had been provided with.

[@nathangebben5738]

Wait...did we get re-gifted the statue of liberty?...wtf

[@toomanyjstoomanyrs1705]

Technically it wasn't a gift.

[@catatonicbug7522]

Pretty much. The US was definitely not the first intended recipient.

[@maximus1239]

Plus she represents an arab woman with her middle eastern clothing at the end we are all one big happy fam

[@drew-shourd]

...amazing video, I enjoyed it much...especially @ around 5:31 you said 'Bourladoue'...when it is written Bourdaloue. My thinking is that you purposely place these tiny 'des fautes' to see actually how many of us are truly listening....

[@XeroVMK]

Simon's voice is such a pleasant one to listen to. I find my self re watching many of these stories just because he tells them so well :)

[@geographicstravel]

Thanks :)

[@thereseabennett]

​@@geographicstravel Simon should tell bedtime stores. He has the voice for it.

[@arnoldvangastel8506]

As a Canadian I feel that you missed an important part of the 1956 Suez Crisis. You did mention Lester Pearson, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for organizing the United Nations Emergency Force that helped resolve the Suez Crisis. In 1963 Lester Pearson would become the 14th Prime Minister of Canada.

[@shoroukelrayes1855]

I really would like to see Egypt Former president Sadat statue at the entrance of the canal because he returned Sinai to us again after winning the war in 1973 ..not De Lesseps statue .we do really respect to the founder of the canal .that is why his statue was moved to the new Suez canal museum in my home town city Ismailia in october 2020 .

[@TheCMajor9th]

love your videos man, i suggested your channel to all my friends :) , really descriptive and accurate , ty for your history contribution !

[@MrFbart]

Do one on the burgess shales pls

[@doyouknoworjustbelieve6694]

To answer your question, the Egyptian workers who built the canal deserve a statue representing their hard word and suffering. They were forced labor, even if paid.

[@wozza77able]

Definitely your best video so far and I reckon they should rebuild the giant colossus of Rhodes

[@robertdavenport1109]

SIMIN IS MY GO-TO SLEEP GUY AS THERE

[@nativelatinosfooktrump5348]

🍔 Puerto Rico is an island surrounded by water I'm like a smart person

[@rodziegman]

It's obvious you are, good luck fooking trump, I'm betting you would rather he would Fook you.

[@anewspinonthings]

Puerto Rico is a hoax it’s really just a flooded town in “North Dakoda

[@salvatoremartingano8053]

No mention was made that the canal was built by the Italian engineer Luigi Negrelli. However there is a street in Ismailia named after him.

[@orngrnify]

Dag Hammarskjöld - nice subject being FN secretery quite long and being only die on his post...... so far. 😈

[@huntergirl7275]

Why are there no maps in the first 5 min of this video??

[@LifeLostSoul]

I am so confused. How the hell did this canal "connects the hemispheres"? Northern and southern hemisphere? Like it made it easier to get to Australia? Because everything else listed on that trade route made easier is in the same hemisphere as most of Europe. Also the English can cross from Eastern to Western hemisphere whenever they freaking want.

[@bobbymain5291]

You are the most talented educator walking the earth right now, thank you for all your hard work and time

[@RandomGuyComments]

Came here for the 2021 comments... Wasn't disappointed

[@YazzPott]

I think this might have been a botched render, but fantastic video!

[@snorkelthump]

How about the statue being based on a youtuber called Simon Whistler?

[@reneekoehn8397]

I think a huge obelisk with rosetta stone like linguistics etched into it rather than a human statue.

[@nolanbrown84]

I see a HUGE missed opportunity in that it was never officially named the Rediterranean Sea.

[@tylerjerabek5204]

But it’s right by the city of Suez…

[@SteveBaker01]

Suez Canal is a Megaproject. You need to filter and target.

[@BongMonsterInc]

Do a geographic's on st Augustine fl usa please. Also love the channels keep up the brilliant work.

[@mikemartin6790]

You should have mentioned HMS Newport the ship that jumped the que on opening day, very funny story!

[@clerkster6928]

Indeed it was cheeky buggers, proper British thing to do though!

[@cultparade2981]

Way late on this, but a giant statue of Said Pasha holding a child-sized De Lesseps in his arms... it'd be marvelous.

[@madmick3794]

@Geographics, at 1:28 there is a short loss of voice over which makes the following sentence a little harder to understand if you are not already familiar with the subject matter.

[@jawhns3410]

nice

[@TheLoxxxton]

I think I gigantic statue of the Simon would be appropriate. It would symbolise his seemingly unnatural ability to be in all places and everywhere at once. The sun glinting of his bald pate and his benevolent smile beaming down reassuring the world that no matter where you are and in whatever far flung nation you find yourself in the Simon is ubiquitous and all knowing. ALL HAIL THE SIMON.

[@aurelian2012ify]

Simon, You stated that the Suez runs north to south. But actually the water in the canal flows South to North.

[@mohamedelshazly1514]

does it really, interesting!

[@rezkel7404]

Did Simon have a rookie editor work on this one?

[@ezio2011]

editor. try harder pls

[@nicomas2471]

When did they stop using BC / AC??? i had to google what the heck ce/bce was because i had never heard anyone use it before this channel.

[@richardhowells5804]

A statue to the ship crews that were stuck there for 8 years, one commemorating our humanity and capacity to come together.

[@MandoTali]

whoever does the editing on these videos should find a new job my 3yo could do a better job

[@user-cl7yr]

A statue of queen Vicky with a speech bubble with the words, we'll be back inscribed

[@AZURNERUB]

I have never realized NASA had control over Suez canal

[@cmdrtianyilin8107]

Nice Recommendation, KZbin.

[@Bear2Roo]

Weird error/lack of sound after gameshow quiz during black and white establishing shot of the canal

[@lordhelpus3955]

A big status of Brian Blessed...because why not?