Anna Skandera age 13, of Monroe La., for her question:

WHERE IS THE KIEL CANAL?

Kiel Canal is an important waterway that provides a short cut for ships sailing between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. The canal lies in northwestern Germany and it shortens the trip around Denmark by over 300 miles.

The Kiel Canal's official German name is Nord Ostsee Kanal, or the North East Sea Canal. It leads from Brunsbuttelkoog at the mouth of the Elbe River to Hoitenau near Kiel, the Baltic seaport after which it was named.

A high railroad bridge crosses the canal in Rendaburg.

The Kiel Canal was begun by the German government in 1887 and completed in 1895. The canal has been enlarged since and is now 548 feet wide, 36 feet deep and 61 miles long.

Allied bombs damaged the waterway during World War II.

About 73,000 ships pass through the canal in a single year.