Straits of Florida

For more information on Straits of Florida, visit Britannica.com.

Florida, Straits Of, also called the New Bahama Channel and the Gulf of Florida, connect the Gulf of Mexico with the Atlantic Ocean and separate Florida from Cuba. Through them flows a part of the Gulf Stream, past the Great Bahama and Little Bahama banks. The total length of the straits exceeds 300 miles. The width varies from 60 to 100 miles. The main channel has been sounded to a depth of 6,000 feet. Traffic through the straits, beginning with the passage of Spanish treasure fleets, has always been heavy and significant. Until early in the nineteenth century, this region was also a site of extensive piracy.

Bibliography

Buker, George E. Blockaders, Refugees, and Contrabands: Civil War on Florida's Gulf Coast, 1861–1865. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1993.

—A. J. Hanna/H. S.

The Straits of Florida

The Florida straits, the L-shaped channel between southeastern Florida and the Bahamas, and the Florida Keys and Cuba

The Straits of Florida, Florida Straits, or Florida Strait is a strait located south-southeast of the North American mainland, generally accepted to be between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, and between the Florida Keys and Cuba. The strait carries the Florida Current, the beginning of the Gulf Stream, from the Gulf of Mexico.

Florida Straits from Space

Rights to oil and natural gas in the Florida Straits were divided between the United States and Cuba by a 1977 treaty.^{[citation needed]} Some allege that Cuba is actively leasing tracts in its sector for exploration while the United States is not due to environmental and tourist concerns.^{[citation needed]}They also allege that geological studies project substantial reserves.^{[citation needed]} However, these allegations are unsupported and doubtful because most of the Strait is off the continental shelves of both the U.S. and Cuba; and the geology of the two sides of the strait are dissimilar.

See also

Cuba portal

• Florida Straits, a movie starring Fred Ward.

Coordinates: 23°56′03″N 80°55′33″W / 23.93417°N 80.92583°W / 23.93417; -80.92583

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