Isthmus, << IHS muhs, >> is a narrow strip of land which connects larger bodies of land. Some isthmuses connect two continents. The Isthmus of Panama links North America and South America. Other isthmuses join a continent to a peninsula. The Isthmus of Kra lies between Thailand, in Asia, and the Malay Peninsula.
Because an isthmus is narrow, it is a logical place to dig a canal between the two bodies of water it separates. Such canals shorten shipping routes. The Suez Canal, which cuts the isthmus between Africa and Asia, shortens the shipping route between England and India by about 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers). The Panama Canal through the Isthmus of Panama has made unnecessary the hazardous trip around Cape Horn, on the southern tip of South America. Opened in 1914, the Panama canal saves 9,000 miles (14,400 kilometers) of water travel between New York City and San Francisco.
