Strait of Hormuz map
This Strait of Hormuz map shows the narrow sea passage between Iran and Oman's Musandam Peninsula that links the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman, along with Qeshm, Hengam and Hormuz islands and the United Arab Emirates. Commercial ships waiting right now: 485 on the Gulf of Oman side and 110 on the Gulf side.
Free to reuse with credit. You may use, share and adapt this map, including commercially, under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence (CC BY 4.0), as long as you credit hormuz.now with a link to this page.
Credit line to copy: Map: hormuz.now, CC BY 4.0, https://hormuz.now/strait-of-hormuz-map
What the Strait of Hormuz map shows
Strait of Hormuz geography →The map is drawn with north at the top. It labels the strait, three countries, one town, three islands and the two bodies of water that the strait connects.
| Label on the map | What it is |
|---|---|
| Strait of Hormuzcentre of the map | The only sea link between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman (Wikipedia: Strait of Hormuz, accessed 29 Sep 2026). It is 21 nautical miles (39 km) wide at its narrowest (IEA, Feb 2026). |
| Irantop of the map (north) | The north shore of the strait (Wikipedia: Strait of Hormuz). Iran controls seven of the strait's eight major islands (Strauss Center, accessed 29 Sep 2026). |
| Bandar Abbasblack dot on the Iranian coast | The main Iranian town on the strait (Wikipedia: Strait of Hormuz). Nearby Shahid Rajaee port handles up to 85% of container handling at Iranian ports (CSIS, 5 May 2025). In the latest AIS snapshot, 1 commercial ship is waiting in the anchorage area there (ships waiting by area). |
| Qeshm Islandlong island off the Iranian coast | Iranian. The largest island in the Persian Gulf: 1,491 km² and 135 km long. Its main city is 22 km from Bandar Abbas (Wikipedia: Qeshm Island, accessed 29 Sep 2026). |
| Hengamsmall island just south of Qeshm | Iranian. One of the four main islands of the strait, with Hormuz, Qeshm and Larak (Strauss Center; Wikipedia: Strait of Hormuz). |
| Hormuz Islandsmall island just off Bandar Abbas | Iranian. Lies in the strait off the Iranian coast and shares its name (Wikipedia: Strait of Hormuz). |
| Musandam (Oman)rugged peninsula, bottom centre | The south shore of the strait. Musandam is an Omani exclave, separated from the rest of Oman by the United Arab Emirates; its capital is Khasab (Wikipedia: Musandam Governorate, accessed 29 Sep 2026). |
| United Arab Emiratesbottom left (south-west) | South-west of the strait. The UAE separates Musandam from the rest of Oman (Wikipedia: Musandam Governorate). Its east-coast ports of Fujairah and Khor Fakkan, which are not labelled here, sit just outside the strait on the Gulf of Oman. |
| Persian Gulfleft of the map (west) | The sea west of the strait. The strait is the Gulf's only sea route to the open ocean (Wikipedia: Strait of Hormuz). |
| Gulf of Omanbottom right (east) | The sea east of the strait. It opens into the Arabian Sea (Wikipedia: Strait of Hormuz). |
Not labelled on this map: Larak Island (Iran) and Great Quoin Island (Oman), which mark the two sides of the narrowest point (Wikipedia: Strait of Hormuz, accessed 29 Sep 2026), and Khasab, the capital of Musandam (Wikipedia: Musandam Governorate). They are covered under islands in the Strait of Hormuz and where the Strait of Hormuz is. The map is illustrative and not for navigation.
Strait of Hormuz map: key distances
Width, length and depth →The map has no scale bar. These are the distances to keep in mind when reading it.
Wikipedia pages accessed 29 Sep 2026. The shipping lanes are not drawn on this map; they are on the map of shipping lanes and anchorages. Depth and the traffic separation scheme are covered under how wide the Strait of Hormuz is.
More Strait of Hormuz maps
Live ship map of the Strait of Hormuz
Every AIS-visible ship in and around the strait, with its name, flag, speed and declared destination, refreshed every 20 seconds.
1,436 vessels visible on AIS right now
Map of shipping lanes and anchorages
An annotated map with the inbound and outbound shipping lanes, our counting line from Musandam to Kuhestak and the anchorage areas where we count waiting ships.
1 under way within 60 km of the counting line
Where ships are waiting
Commercial ships waiting near the strait, by anchorage area, type, flag and declared destination.
485 waiting on the Gulf of Oman side, 110 on the Gulf side
To see the coasts and mountains rather than a map, look around the Strait of Hormuz in 3D from the deck of a ship.
Quick answers
All questions →Where is the Strait of Hormuz on the map?
In the centre. Iran's coast runs across the top of the map and Oman's Musandam Peninsula reaches up from the bottom; the Strait of Hormuz is the water between them. The Persian Gulf is on the left (west) and the Gulf of Oman on the right (east). On a world map, look for the narrow exit at the south-eastern end of the Persian Gulf, where Iran's coast and the tip of Musandam almost meet.
Sources: Wikipedia: Strait of Hormuz, Wikipedia: Musandam Governorate (accessed 29 Sep 2026).
Which countries are on the Strait of Hormuz map?
Three are labelled: Iran, Oman (through the Musandam Peninsula) and the United Arab Emirates. Only two of them border the strait itself: Iran on the north shore and Oman on the south. Musandam is an Omani exclave, separated from the rest of Oman by the UAE. See who controls the Strait of Hormuz.
Source: Wikipedia: Musandam Governorate (accessed 29 Sep 2026).
Does this map show ships or shipping lanes?
No. It is a fixed reference map of the coasts, islands and place names. Ship positions are on the live ship map, which shows 1,436 vessels right now. The inbound and outbound shipping lanes, each 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) wide, are drawn on the map of shipping lanes and anchorages.
Sources: IEA, Feb 2026; Wikipedia: Strait of Hormuz (accessed 29 Sep 2026).
Can I use this Strait of Hormuz map?
Yes. You may use, share and adapt the map, online or in print and including commercially, without asking first. It is © hormuz.now and licensed under CC BY 4.0. The conditions are short: credit hormuz.now with a link to this page, name the licence, and say so if you changed the map. For example: Map: hormuz.now, CC BY 4.0, linked to https://hormuz.now/strait-of-hormuz-map. Where a link cannot be clicked, such as in print or on a slide, show the address. The download link and credit line are under the map.
The licence covers this map image only. The site's data has its own terms on the open data page.
Live AIS data as of · 1,436 vessels visible in the region. Counts are AIS-visible only and miss ships running dark. How we count.