Strait of Dover
Strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel
The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait, historically known as the Dover Narrows, is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel, marking the boundary between the Channel and the North Sea, and separating Great Britain from continental Europe. The shortest distance across the strait, at 20.6 miles, is from the South Foreland, northeast of Dover in the English county of Kent, to Cap Gris-Nez, a cape near to Calais in the French département of Pas-de-Calais. Between these points lies the most popular route for cross-channel swimmers. The entire strait is within the territorial waters of France and the United Kingdom, but a right of transit passage under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea allows vessels of other nations to move freely through the strait.
Also known as...
Dover Strait, Pas-de-Calais, Pas de Calais, Straits of Dover, Streights of Dover, Streight of Dover, Dover Streight, Dover Streights, Dover Straits, Str. of Dover, and Dover Str.UK naval patrols have intensified after a 25 % jump in Russian warship activity near British waters.