What is the route of the Panama Canal?

The 82-km long Panama Canal bisects the isthmus of the American state of Panama, thus connecting the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific. The ships passing through this canal take pilots on board to help them navigate through the sluices. There is a lot of traffic on this water route; about 15,000 ships use this shortcut every year. The opening of the canal has done away with the need of ships to sail around Cape Horn, the tip of South America. For ships starting from New York on the eastern coast of America and sailing to San Francisco on the western coast, this means avoiding a coastline of around 20,000 km. During the construction work, which started in 1881, the planned stretch passed through extensive marshland and thousands of workers died of tropical diseases like malaria and yellow fever. The first official transit on this canal took place only in 1914, more than 20 years later.