Canal

Canals and navigations are human-made channels for water. In the vernacular both are referred to as 'canals'. The main difference between them is that a navigation parallels a river and shares its drainage basin, while a canal cuts across a drainage divide.

Types of artificial waterways

A navigation is a series of channels that run roughly parallel to the valley and stream bed of an unimproved river. A navigation always shares the drainage basin of the river. A vessel uses the calm parts of the river itself as well as improvements, traversing the same changes in height.

A true canal is a channel that cuts across a drainage divide, making a navigable channel connecting two different drainage basins.

Most commercially important canals of the first half of the 19th-century were a little of each, using rivers in long stretches, and divide crossing canals in others. This is true for many canals still in use.

Structures used in artificial waterways

Both navigations and canals use engineered structures to improve navigation:

Alan García

Alan Gabriel Ludwig García Pérez (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈalaŋ ɡaβˈɾjel luðˈwiɣ ɡarˈsi.a ]; born 23 May 1949) is a Peruvian lawyer, sociologist and politician who was President of Peru from 1985 to 1990 and again from 2006 to 2011. He is the leader of the Peruvian Aprista Party and the only party member ever to have served as President.

His first term was marked by a severe economic crisis, social unrest and violence. He ran unsuccessfully for the Presidency in 2001, losing in a run-off to Alejandro Toledo. He ran again in 2006 and was elected to a second term, even though his first term in the 1980s was considered by many to have been disastrous. During García's second term, Peru averaged seven percent GDP growth a year, held inflation below three percent annually and collated Peru's foreign exchange reserves at US$47 billion; however, his tenure also resulted in increased environmental damage, according to critics, and increased social conflict, according to the national human rights ombudsman's office.