Question

In which year was the Suez Canal opened?
A. 1769
B. 1801
C. 1850
D. 1869

Answer 1

Hint: The excavation and construction work of the Suez canal took 10 years to get completed, and an estimated 1.5 million people worked on this ambitious project, a lot of them being slave labour.

Complete answer: The Suez Canal was opened on 17th November 1869.Let’s learn more about this modern maritime wonder. The Suez Canal is a man-made waterway connecting the Mediterranean sea and the Indian ocean via the red sea.It proved extremely profitable as it enabled ships and cargo to take a more direct route from Europe to Asia instead of having to navigate from the entire African continent.

French engineer Linant de Bellefonds was the man responsible for this idea of the Suez canal, in fact, he proved that the Mediterranean sea and Red sea were at the same altitude contrary to popular belief and thus it was possible to construct a canal. After the permission of Egypt and the Ottoman Empire, a Suez canal committee was formed in the 1850s. Alois Negrelli a civil engineer was part of this committee, he built upon the works of Bellefonds and played a leading role in developing the architecture of the Suez canal.In 1856 the Suez canal company was formally established and construction of the canal began in 1859 and took 10 years to complete.

Thus, the correct option is (D).

Note: The Suez canal extends from Port Said in the Mediterranean sea in Egypt to the city of Suez. The canal handles almost 8% of the entire world trade even today.