Every day, roughly 21 million barrels of oil — about one fifth of global supply — pass through a corridor barely 3 kilometres wide at its narrowest point. The Strait of Hormuz is the single most important chokepoint in the world's energy system.
Iran's coastline runs along the entire northern shore. Any conflict involving Iran immediately raises the question of whether traffic through the Strait might be disrupted.
Click any marker or route for details. Toggle layers to focus on specific dimensions of the picture. The dashed gold lines show bypass pipelines built specifically so Gulf states can export without passing through the Strait.