Korea Strait
From Free net encyclopedia
| Korea Strait | ||
|---|---|---|
| Image:Korea Strait.png | ||
| Korean name | ||
| South Korea | North Korea | |
| Hangul | Template:Lang | Template:Lang |
| Hanja | Template:Lang | Template:Lang |
| Revised Romanization | Daehan Haehyeop | Joseon Haehyeop |
| McCune-Reischauer | Taehan Haehyŏp | Chosŏn Haehyŏp |
| Japanese name | ||
| Kanji | Template:Lang | |
| Hiragana | Template:Lang | |
| Hepburn Romanization | Tsushima Kaikyō | |
| Names for Eastern and Western Channels in Japan | ||
| Eastern Channel | Official name | Traditional name |
| Kanji | Template:Lang | Template:Lang |
| Hiragana | Template:Lang | Template:Lang |
| Hepburn romanization | Tsushima Kaikyō Higashi Suidō | Tsushima Kaikyō |
| Western Channel | ||
| Kanji | Template:Lang | Template:Lang |
| Hiragana | Template:Lang | Template:Lang |
| Hepburn romanization | Tsushima Kaikyō Nishi Suidō | Chōsen Kaikyō |
The Korea Strait is a sea passage between the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan (East Sea). To the north, it is bounded by the south coast of the Korean peninsula, to the south by the Japanese islands of Kyushu and Honshu. The strait has a depth of about 90 metres and is split by the Tsushima Island into the Western Channel and the Tsushima Strait.
Contents |
Geography
The Korea Strait lies between Korea and the western sides of the four main islands of Japan, in particular, Honshu, the largest. The Tsushima Island lies to the west center of the Korea Strait, and the broader eastern channel (Tsushima Strait) is bounded to the west by Tsushima and to the east through south-east by Honshu and to the south-south-east by Kyushu. It and the west channel together connect the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea. The Tsushima Strait is narrowest at its southern end, constricted there by nearby Iki Island, which lies wholly in the strait near the tip of Honshu.
Japanese Names
The Tsushima Strait (Kanji:対馬海峡) is used in the hydrographs issued by Japan Coast Guard for the whole Korea Strait. It is split into the Eastern Channel (Kanji:対馬海峡東水道) and the Western Channel (Kanji:対馬海峡西水道) by Tsushima Island.Template:Ref
Traditionally, the Eastern Channel is called as the Tsushima Strait (Kanji:対馬海峡) and the Western Channel is called as the Korea Strait (Kanji:朝鮮海峡) in the narrow sense, that are reflection of the crossing channels coming from Kyushu/Honshu for Tsushima and then Korea, respectively (See Table, Names for Eastern and Western Channels in Japan).
The Tsushima Strait measures approximately 60 miles (97 kilometres) long and 40 miles (64 kilometres) wide. The strait has a depth of about 90 metres and is bounded by the Tsushima Islands to the west. Nearby Iki Island lies in the strait about 50 kilometres towards Kyushu from the southern tip of Kamino-shima (South Island).
The area containing Tsushima and Iki Islands makes up the Iki–Tsushima Quasi-National Park (Kanji:壱岐対馬国定公園) which has been set aside as a nature preserve and brake on over development.Template:Ref
Tsushima canals
There are two canals connecting the deep indentation of Aso Bay (Kanji:浅茅湾) to the east-side for the convenience of the passage through the Tsushima island. These are known as Ōfunakoshi-Seto (Kanji:大船越瀬戸) and Manzeki-Seto (Kanji:万関瀬戸), built in 1671 and 1900, respectively.
Currents
A branch of the Kuroshio Current (Japan Current) passes through the strait. Its warm branch is sometimes called Tsushima Current. Originating along the Japanese islands this current passed through the Sea of Japan then divides along either shore of Sakhalin Island; eventually flowing into the Northern Pacific Ocean via the Strait north of Hokkaido and into the Sea of Okhotsk north of Sakhalin Island near Vladivostok.
Economic significance
Numerous international shipping lanes pass through the strait, including those carrying much of the traffic bound for the ports of southern South Korea. Both South Korea and Japan have restricted their territorial claims in the strait to 3 nautical miles from shore, so as to permit free passage through it. Template:RefTemplate:Ref
Passenger ferries ply numerous routes across the strait. Commercial ferries run from Busan, South Korea to Japanese ports including Fukuoka, Tsushima, Shimonoseki, and Hiroshima. Ferries also connect Tsushima Island with Fukuoka, and South Korea's Jeju Island with the Korean mainland. Ferries connecting Busan and Japanese cities with ports in China also traverse the strait.
Historic impact
Historically these narrows served as a highway for high risk voyages (Korea to the Tsushima Islands to Iki Island to the western tip of Honshu) for cultural exchange between Japan and Korea. Japan periodically sent year long embassies to the court of the Chinese, deliberately trying to learn from the great empire to the west (after the Americans and Europeans breached Japan's isolationism, they repeated this unusual and deliberate process to learn from western nations from about 1860). The straits also occasionally served as an invasion path. For example, some archeologists believe the first migrations of the current East Asian peoples traveled across to Honshu around the 8th century BC, and Buddhism was transmitted from Baekje to Japan over this strait long before sea going ships were available. Iki to Kamino-shima, the southern end of the large island of Tsushima is about 50 kilometres. Busan (Korea), to the northern tip of Tsushima, about the same across the western side of the Korea Strait. These were tremendous distances to attempt in small boats over open seas.
Land Bridge
- See article: Land bridge
During the Pleistocene glacial cycles, the Korea and the Bering Straits, and the Yellow Sea were often dried up and the Japanese islands were connected to the Eurasian Continent through the Korean Peninsula and Sakhalin. At the periods, Sea of Japan was said to be a frozen inner lake due to the lack of warm Tsushima Current and various plants and large animals, such as Naumann elephant, spread into Japan.
Mongolian invasion
- See main article: Mongol invasions of Japan
Joint fleet of Mongol, China, and Korea crossed this strait and attempted to invade Japan in 1274 and 1281. The force severely ravaged the Tsushima Island on the way to Japan though failed to defeat Japan. The kamikaze (神風) – usually translated as "divine wind" – a typhoon is said to have saved Japan from a Mongol invasion fleet led by Kublai Khan in 1281.
Wokou and Oei Invasion
- See main article: Wokou and Oei Invasion
After the Mongolian invasion, ravaged Tsushima became a base of Wokou (Japanese pirates). Korean Joseon Dynasty sent a fleet to Tsushima in 1418 for the suppression of Wokou activity though the force was defeated by Japanese soldiers in an ambush.
Battle of Tsushima
- See main article: Battle of Tsushima
The reason the Tsushima strait is famous, is that one of the most decisive naval battles of modern times, the Battle of Tsushima, fought on May 27 and May 28, 1905 (May 14 and May 15 in the Julian calendar then in use in Russia) took place there due east of the north part of Tsushima and due north of Iki Island between the Japanese and Russian navies in 1905; the Russian fleet was virtually destroyed by the Japanese. In Japan, it is called the Sea of Japan naval battle.
References
- Template:Note Template:Cite web Japan Hydrographic Association
- Template:Note Template:Cite web Ministry of the Environment, Japan
- Template:Note Template:Cite web
- Template:Note Template:Cite web Hydrographic and Oceanographic Department, Japan Coast Guard
See also
- List of Japan-related topics
- Geography of Japan
- List of Korea-related topics
- Russo-Japanese War
- Battle of Tsushima
- Tsushima City ar:كوريا (مضيق)
de:Koreastraße et:Korea väin ko:대한해협 ja:対馬海峡 sv:Koreasundet pt:Estreito da Coreia