the English Channel
/ði ˌɪŋɡlɪʃ ˈtʃænl/
/ði ˌɪŋɡlɪʃ ˈtʃænl/
(also the Channel)
- the area of sea between southern England and northern France. CultureAlthough it is so narrow at one point (less than 21 miles/33 kilometres) that some people have swum across it and on a clear day it is possible to see Calais from Dover, the English Channel has always formed a physical and cultural barrier between Britain and the rest of Europe. The first person to swim the Channel was Captain Matthew Webb (1848-83) in 1875 and in 1926 an American, Gertrude Ederle, became the first woman to do so.
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the English Channel