Dover, Strait of

Dover, Strait of, separating Great Britain from France and connecting the English Channel with the North Sea. It is 21 mi (34 km) wide between Dover and Cape Gris-Nez, near Calais, and is called Pas-de-Calais by the French. It is traversed regularly by ferry, hovercraft, and, with the completion of the Channel Tunnel, by rail. The Romans called it Fretum Gallicum. The Strait of Dover has been the scene of naval battles: in the 13th cent. Hubert de Burgh defeated the invading French, and in 1588 the Spanish Armada was checked there by the English.

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Dover, Strait of 

(in French Pas de Calais), a strait separating continental Europe (France) and Great Britain. The strait was formed in the Anthropogenic period by the settling and submergence of the land between the European mainland and the British Isles. It is 29 km wide at its narrowest point and has depths to 64 m. The Strait of Dover is the entrance to the English Channel from the North Sea. Its chief British port is Dover; the chief French ports are Calais, Boulogne-sur-Mer, and Dunkerque.