Strait of Otranto
{{short description|Strait that connects the Adriatic Sea with the Ionian Sea and separates Italy from Albania}}
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{{Infobox body of water
| name = Strait of Otranto
| image = Strait of Otranto closeup.png
| alt =
| caption = Map showing the location of the Strait of Otranto
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| location =
| coords = {{coord|40|13|10|N|18|55|32|E|type:waterbody|display=inline,title}}
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| depth = {{convert|18|m|ft|abbr=on}}
| inflow =
| outflow =
| catchment =
| basin_countries = Italy, Albania
| length =
| min_width = {{convert|72|km|abbr=on}}
| islands =
| pushpin_map = Europe#Italy#Albania
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Image:Otranto porto2.jpg harbour]]
The Strait of Otranto ({{langx|sq|Ngushtica e Otrantos}}; {{langx|it|Canale d'Otranto}}) connects the Adriatic Sea with the Ionian Sea and separates Italy from Albania. Its width between Punta Palascìa, eastern Salento, and Karaburun Peninsula, western Albania, is less than {{convert|72|km|mi nmi|abbr=in}}.{{cite book|author=Frank K. McKinney|title=The Northern Adriatic Ecosystem: Deep Time in a Shallow Sea|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TuxEf_Yn4YkC&pg=PA29|access-date=6 March 2013|year=2007|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-13242-8|page=29}} The strait is named after the Italian city of Otranto.
History
Since ancient times, the Strait of Otranto was of vital strategic importance. The Romans used it to transport their troops eastwards. The legions marched to Brundisium (now Brindisi), had only a one-day sea voyage to modern Albania territory and then could move eastwards following the Via Egnatia.
= World War I =
During World War I, the strait was of strategic significance. The Allied navies of Italy, France, and Great Britain, by blockading the strait, mostly with light naval forces and lightly armed fishing vessels known as drifters, hindered the cautious Austro-Hungarian Navy from freely entering the Mediterranean Sea, and effectively kept them out of the naval theatre of war. The blockade was known as the 'Otranto Barrage'.
However, the barrage was notoriously ineffective against the German and Austrian U-boats operating out of the Adriatic, which were to plague the Allied powers for most of the war throughout the Mediterranean.First World War – Willmott, H.P., Dorling Kindersley, 2003, P. 186.
= After the fall of the Iron Curtain =
In 1992, Albania and Italy signed a treaty that delimited the continental shelf boundary between the two countries in the Strait. Whatsoever the administration rights over the Strait were given to Albania not changing much from the former deal of Otranto.
In 1997 and 2004, nearly 100 people died trying to illegally cross the strait following the 1997 unrest in Albania and poor economic conditions in the Tragedy of Otranto and the Karaburun tragedy.
In 2006, the Albanian government imposed a moratorium on motor-powered sailing boats on all lakes, rivers, and seas of Albania to curb organized crime.{{cite web |url=http://www.keshilliministrave.al/?fq=brenda&m=news&lid=1850 |title=Keshilli i Ministrave |access-date=2011-02-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706071604/http://www.keshilliministrave.al/?fq=brenda&m=news&lid=1850 |archive-date=2011-07-06 }} Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania, www.keshilliministrave.al, 10 August 2006. The only exemption to the rule are government-owned boats, foreign-owned boats, fishing boats, and jet boats. In 2010, the moratorium was extended until 2013.
Swims
Eva Buzo, a 36-year-old Sydney-based lawyer and long-distance swimmer, became the first woman to complete the swim. In August 2024 it took her 35 hours to cross 92 kilometres from Lecce in Italy to Vlora in Albania.{{cite web |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2024/08/23/sydney-based-lawyer-makes-special-swim-from-italy-to-albania/|title=Balkan Insight |access-date=2025-05-10 }} Balkan Insight, www.balkaninsight.com, 23. August 2024.
See also
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References
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Category:International straits
Category:Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast
Category:Albanian Ionian Sea Coast
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