A canal is an artificial waterway designed to provide a route for boats in areas where there is no navigable river.

This is the Irwell canal near Manchester, England. It is one of the older and smaller canals built in the Industrial Revolution.

Major canals of the world: Suez canal (opened 1869) 170km long; 150m wide and 13m deep; Panama canal (opened 1914) 85km long; 81m wide and 11m deep; St Lawrence Seaway 3,800km (includes Welland Canal 45km); Keil canal (opened 1914) 100km long; Rhine Danube canal (completion 1996); Corinth Canal (6km gorge over 80m deep; opened 1893)

(An artificial waterway designed to carry water for drinking, irrigation, etc., is called an aqueduct.)

This is the Manchester Ship canal in England, built to allow seagoing ships to reach the inland city of Manchester.

This is a modern canal built in California to carry goods to San Francisco Bay.

Some cities, such as Birmingham in the English Midlands, prospered because canals were built to them.