The String of Pearls is a geopolitical hypothesis proposed by United States political researchers in 2004. It is the network of Chinese military and commercial facilities and relationships along its sea lines of communication which extend from mainland China to Port Sudan in the Horn of Africa. The sea lines run through several major maritime choke points such as the Strait of Mandeb, the Strait of Malacca, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Lombok Strait as well as other strategic maritime centres in Somalia and the littoral South Asian countries of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and the Maldives.