Editing Choke point (section)

==Historical examples==
{{unreferenced|section|date=September 2022}}{{Excessive examples|section|date=September 2022}}
Some historical examples of the tactical use of choke points are King [[Leonidas I]]'s defense of the [[Battle of Thermopylae|Pass of Thermopylae]] during an invasion led by [[Xerxes I of Persia]]; the [[Battle of Stamford Bridge]] in which [[Harold Godwinson]] defeated [[Harald Hardrada]]; [[William Wallace]]'s victory over the English at the [[Battle of Stirling Bridge]] (Wallace had around 2,300 men against the English army of about 9,000 to 12,000 men and the bridge collapsed during the battle); and the [[Battle of Agincourt]] in which [[Henry V of England]] decisively defeated the [[Kingdom of France|French]] using a small army (consisting mainly of lightly equipped [[longbowmen]]) when the much larger force of French [[heavy cavalry]] were forced to [[charge (warfare)|charge]] at the Englishmen through a narrow muddy gap in the [[Azincourt]] Woods.

The many archipelagos of the [[Caribbean]] offered several maritime choke points that attracted [[Pirate|pirates]] and [[buccaneers]] during [[Golden Age of Piracy|the height of their activities]] in the 17th and early 18th century.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}} The [[Spanish treasure fleet]]s leaving the Americas would have to pass through those waters to pick up the strong, [[Prevailing winds|prevailing]] [[westerlies|westerly winds]] that would take them back to Spain across the [[North Atlantic]].

Some choke points, with important locations in parentheses:
* [[Strait of Hormuz]] passage from the [[Persian Gulf]] to the [[Indian Ocean]] ([[Oman]] and [[Iran]])
* [[Bab-el-Mandeb]] passage from the [[Arabian Sea]] to the [[Red Sea]] ([[Yemen]], [[Djibouti]] and [[Eritrea]])
* [[Strait of Malacca]] and the [[Singapore Strait]] between [[Malaysia]] and [[Sumatra]] ([[Indonesia]])
* [[Turkish straits]] linking the [[Black Sea]] (and oil coming from the [[Caspian Sea]] region) to the [[Mediterranean Sea]] ([[Turkey]])
** [[Bosphorus]]
** [[Sea of Marmara]]
** [[Dardanelles]]
* [[Suez Canal]] connecting the [[Red Sea]] and [[Mediterranean Sea]] ([[Egypt]])
* [[Straits of Tiran]] connecting the [[Gulf of Aqaba]] and the [[Red Sea]] (Egypt and [[Saudi Arabia]])
* [[Khyber Pass]] between [[Afghanistan]] and [[Pakistan]]
* [[Strait of Gibraltar]] along the [[Atlantic Ocean]] entering the [[Mediterranean Sea]] ([[Spain]], [[Gibraltar]] and [[Morocco]])
* [[Strait of Dover]] and the [[English Channel]] separating the [[Atlantic Ocean]] and the [[North Sea]] ([[United Kingdom]], [[Crown Dependencies]] and [[France]])
* [[Sea of Åland]] connecting the [[Gulf of Bothnia]] and the [[Baltic Sea]] ([[Finland]] and [[Sweden]])
* Waterbodies connecting the [[Baltic Sea]] and the [[North Sea]]:
** [[Danish straits]] ([[Denmark]] and [[Sweden]])
** [[Kattegat]] and [[Skagerrak]] ([[Norway]], Denmark and Sweden)
** [[Kiel Canal]] ([[Germany]])
* Waterbodies connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans including:
** [[Panama Canal]] ([[Panama]])
** [[Strait of Magellan]] ([[Chile]] and [[Argentina]])
** [[Beagle Channel]] (Chile and Argentina)
** [[Drake Passage]]
* [[Bering Strait]] ([[United States of America]] and [[Russia]])
* [[Strait of Tartary]] along [[Sea of Japan]] and [[Sea of Okhotsk]] ([[Russia]])
* [[Suwałki Gap]]
* [[Belfort Gap]]
* [[Focșani Gate]]
The [[Fulda Gap]] was seen as one of the potentially decisive bottleneck battlegrounds of the [[Cold War]] in [[Germany]].

===Royal Navy choke points===

From the 18th to the early 20th centuries, the sheer size of the [[United Kingdom|United Kingdom's]] [[Royal Navy]] meant it had control over much of the world's oceans and seas. Choke points were of huge importance to the [[British Empire]], which often used them to control trade in British colonies and, to a lesser extent, for defense. Choke points have also been a source of tension, notably during the [[Suez Crisis]]. The Royal Navy still deems its choke points as strategically vital. Indeed, the importance of choke points was first recognised by British Admiral [[John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher|John Fisher]].<ref name="Breverton 2010 169">{{cite book |title=Breverton's Nautical Curiosities|last= Breverton|first=Terry |author-link=Terry Breverton |year=2010 |publisher=Quercus Publishing PLC |location=21 Bloomsbury Square, London|isbn=978-1-84724-776-6 |page=169 }}</ref>
[[File:English Channel.jpg|alt=A map of the English Channel, south of England, north of France|thumb|228x228px|The [[English Channel]], a choke point south of England and north of [[France]]]]
These are major British choke points today:
* The [[English Channel]]
* [[GIUK gap]] (between Greenland, Iceland, and UK)
* [[Strait of Gibraltar]]

The choke points still have significant strategic importance for the Royal Navy. The GIUK gap is particularly important to the Royal Navy, as any attempt by northern European forces to break into the open Atlantic would have to do so through the heavily defended English Channel, which is also the world's busiest shipping lane, or through one of the exits on either side of [[Iceland]]. Considering British control over the strategic fortress of [[Gibraltar]] at the entrance to the Mediterranean, Spain (northern coast), France (Atlantic coast) and Portugal are the only mainland European nations that have direct access to the Atlantic Ocean in a way that cannot be easily blocked at a choke point by the Royal Navy. The GIUK gap was also a strategically important part of the [[Cold War]], as the Royal Navy were given the responsibility of keeping an eye on [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] submarines trying to break into the open Atlantic.{{cn|date=March 2024}}