A convergence zone is an area where shipping lanes converge and then spread out. Because these are relatively narrow areas on a sea route through which many ships pass, the zones become important as shown below:

Lots of ships passing an area means

• The area becomes economically important
• The area becomes strategically important
• The area becomes militarily important
• The area becomes politically important.

The most important convergence zones are shown on the map below

A – Suez Canal to Bab-el-Mandeb; B – Turkish Straits; C – Straits of Gibraltar; D – English Channel & Straits of Dover; E – Panama Canal; F – Cape Agulhas; G – Straits of Hormuz; H– Straits of Malacca

Students will find it interesting to go to www.marinetraffic.com and zoom into each of these convergence zones to see the volume of shipping passing through each zone.