Channel

Channel, The English, the narrow strip of water that separates England from France, extends from the Straits of Dover to Land's End, Cornwall. At Dover it is only 21 miles wide, and in its widest part it is 155 miles. At its eastern boundary it joins the North Sea, and the Atlantic at its western, the English coast-line of the Channel being 390 miles long, and the French 570 miles. It has a gentle current from W. to E. In France it is called La Manche, or "the sleeve,"from its shape.