How much the maritime distance between India and Europe was reduced after the construction of the Suez Canal?

The correct answer is B) 7,000 km. Ships sailing from India to Europe earlier had to go round the Cape of Good Hope. The Suez Canal, opened in 1869 and running about 193 km from Port Said on the Mediterranean to Suez on the Red Sea, let them cut straight through Egypt. The conventional figure for the saving on India-Europe routes is about 7,000 km, which is the number UPSC expects.

Why the others fail:

• A) 5,000 km understates the saving for the usual India-Europe sea routes.
• C) 8,000 km and D) 10,000 km overstate it. Exact figures vary with the port pair, but these are not the standard values for this question.

Core concept: chokepoints and sea routes. The canal was built by a French company under Ferdinand de Lesseps. Britain later became the largest shareholder, and Nasser's nationalisation in 1956 triggered the Suez Crisis. For Mains, the canal is a live example of how a single chokepoint shapes trade, energy flows and naval strategy. The 2023-24 Red Sea attacks, which forced many ships back to the Cape route, show this clearly, and that is a useful India-linked angle for GS-III and GS-II.

Trap: mixing up the Suez with the Panama Canal, or assuming the Suez shortens the Cape of Good Hope route to Africa. It does not. It replaces the Cape route for Europe-Asia trade.