The Strait of Hormuz is a strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean and is one of the world's most strategically important choke points. It has been so for centuries, with vast hinterlands rich in luxury trade goods, but no easy access to lucrative trading ports. In his memoirs, Babur, the first padishah of the Mughal Empire, recounted how almonds had to be carried from the distant Ferghana region in Central Asia to Hormuz to reach markets.
is a strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean and is one of the world's most strategically important choke points.[1] It has been so for centuries, with vast hinterlands rich in luxury trade goods, but no easy access to lucrative trading ports. In his memoirs, Babur, the first padishah of the Mughal Empire, recounted how almonds had to be carried from the distant Ferghana region in Central Asia to Hormuz to reach markets.
During 2023–2025, 20% of the world's liquefied natural gas (LNG) and 25% of seaborne oil trade passed through the strait annually. The strait had never been closed for extended time during Middle East conflicts (until this month) (unlike the Straits of Tiran/Bab-el-Mandeb) though Iran occasionally had threatened to close the strait (and they did), and preparations to mine it have been undertaken.
Etymology
Persian etymology derives "Hormuz" from the Middle Persian pronunciation of the name of the Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda. Alternatively, it has been suggested that the name derives from the local Persian word Hur-Mogh 'Place of Dates'. A theory claims that the strait of Hormuz may have been named after Ifra Hormizd, the mother of King Shapur II of Persia, who ruled between 309 and 379 AD.
In the 10th–17th centuries AD, the Kingdom of Ormus was located here. Scholars, historians and linguists derive the name "Ormuz" from the local Persian word هورمغ Hur-mogh meaning date palm.
From the 15th century onward, from a strategic point of view, the geography of the strait maintained and expanded its importance with the arrival of foreign powers such as Portugal, which maintained its presence between the 16th and 18th centuries, also provoking disputes with other emerging powers such as England when it arrived in the region in the 17th century.
Navigation
To reduce the risk of collision, ships moving through the strait follow a traffic separation scheme (TSS): inbound ships use one lane, outbound ships another, each lane being two miles wide. The lanes are separated by a two-mile-wide "median"
In 1959, Iran altered the legal status of the strait by expanding its territorial sea to 12 nmi (22 km) and declaring it would recognize only transit by innocent passage through the newly expanded area.[16] In 1972, Oman also expanded its territorial sea to 12 nmi (22 km) by decree.[16] Thus, by 1972, the Strait of Hormuz was completely "closed" by the combined territorial waters of Iran and Oman. During the 1970s, neither Iran or Oman attempted to impede the passage of warships, but in the 1980s, both countries asserted claims that were different from customary (old) law.
Oil trade flow
During 2023–2025, 20% of the world's liquefied natural gas and 25% of seaborne oil trade passes through the Strait, illustrating its important location for trade.
More than 85% of these crude oil exports went to Asian markets on a daily basis, with Japan, India, South Korea and China the largest destinations. If shipping through the Strait of Hormuz were significantly disrupted for an extended period, it could lead to a major oil supply crisis for major Asian importers such as India and China.
Megathreads and spaces to hang out:
- 🐻 Link to all Hexbear comms https://hexbear.net/post/1403966
- 🐼 Hexbear Matrix Chat https://matrix.to/#/#Hexbear:matrix.org
- 📀 Come listen to music and Watch movies with your fellow Hexbears nerd, in Cy.tube](https://live.hexbear.net/c/movies
- 🔥 Read and talk about a current topics in the News Megathread https://hexbear.net/post/7856493
- ⚔ Come talk in the New Weekly PoC thread https://hexbear.net/post/7892820
- 🏳️⚧️ Talk with fellow Trans comrades in the New Weekly Trans thread https://hexbear.net/post/7888278
- 👊 New Weekly Improvement thread https://hexbear.net/post/7883991
- 🧡 Disabled comm megathread https://hexbear.net/post/7886148
- ☕ Parenting Chat https://hexbear.net/post/7881812
- 🐉 Anime & Manga discussion thread https://hexbear.net/post/7546692
- 🎩Fashion megathread https://hexbear.net/post/7228810
reminders:
- 💚 You nerds can join specific comms to see posts about all sorts of topics
- 💙 Hexbear’s algorithm prioritizes comments over upbears
- 💜 Sorting by new you nerd
- 🐶 Join the unofficial Hexbear-adjacent Mastodon instance toots.matapacos.dog
Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):
Aid:
Theory:
Financial Support to the Bearsite
most (66%) of my immediate family is the primary source of my anxiety, and it is not even close. i don't even know where to begin, because there are so many cascading layers, but i feel stuck in this rotation of being belittled, ignored, and abused. like i'm the one that everyone is free to push around and bully because i am generally chill and don't lash out in frustration. if i am really upset in a moment, i quietly take some time to feel what i am feeling, collect my thoughts and then communicate them calmly. and this seems to have made me the Safest Target, because very seldom do i ever snap back in a feeling.
lately, though, when i try to introspect and find a way to understand where any of them or all of them are coming from, i come up with bupkis. like really, i think they're just fuckin' jerks. i make friends everywhere i go and have friends everywhere i've been. i give a shit about stuff and am curious. my work colleagues and professional connections just this week made specific efforts to recognize me for my coordinating efforts and collaboration abilities on complex tasks. like part of it was the deliverable that came about, but the emphasis of the recognition was that i am easy and fun and productive to collaborate with. two different groups gave me public recognition for two entirely different projects in two days!
i blushed about it because it was so unexpected, but seems to have brought the intra-family conflict to a head because in the midst of their latest salvo i'm like, "you know what, i'm not unreasonable for standing up for myself."
also, the craziest silver lining in all this is that it's made me develop this deep respect for my step father. like i didn't really get him as a kid or even a young adult. and he has some odd mannerisms, says awkward things, but i've learned that he and i are both strong written communicators with well organized thoughts and he is always solution oriented and upbeat. truly a great person to email with questions and to lay out ideas to. the people i'm blood related to talk crappy about him like he's some kind of difficult entity that must be managed. even though it's him that financially supports the hell out of them (and has made them unrecognizable to me with their crazy vacations, luxuries, and incomprehension of year round work, paying bills, and basic financial literacy).
anyway, this is all over the place but has been therapeutic to type out. im gonna post it in case anybody else needs to hear that families are ridiculous as fuck, should not be taken seriously, and need to be replaced with kinship worker collectives or some shit that isn't quite so absurdly fraught and insular.
I always remind myself: you can't choose your family, but you can often choose how much time you spend with them
sorry your family is a pain, you seem great x
I needed to hear this, thank you. I very much relate. I have noticed that the only place where I am consistently valued is my work and studies, basically everywhere else but with my family. It's definitely given me perspective when people just say positive things about me without any kind of prompt when with my family I have always been invalidated or treated as the black sheep of the family. Even though I tend to be the one that keeps people in contact, resolves conflicts and puts in work to maintain these relations.