Discover the Strait of Hormuz: its map, critical importance, key facts, and role as a vital chokepoint for global oil transit. Learn why this narrow waterway is essential to energy markets.

The Strait of Hormuz is considered the world's most important gateway for oil transport. Hostilities between Iran and Israel have raised fears that shipping and crude flows through the narrow waterway may now slow down.

The Strait of Hormuz is both a vital passage point and a permanent point of tension. As long as the world depends on Oil from the Persian Gulf, its security will remain a major geostrategic concern. If Iran were to cross the red line, the consequences would not be limited to barrels of Oil, but the global economic balance could be shaken.