The Panama Canal is 50 miles wide. It was cut through one of the lowest and narrowest saddles of the long, mountainous Isthmus that joins the North and South Americans continents. The Canal runs form northwest to southeast with the Atlantic entrance 33.5 north and 27 miles west of the Pacific entrance. The air distance between the two entrances is 43 miles. It requires about 8 to 10 hours of an average ship to transit the Canal.