Black Sea

Black Sea (ancient Pontus Euxinus), inland sea, lying between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor. It is connected with the Aegean Sea by the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles. Romania, Bulgaria, and the European portion of Turkey bound it on the west. The northern and eastern shores are bordered by Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia; the entire southern shore is Turkish territory.

The Black Sea has a length of 1,200 km (750 mi) from east to west, a maximum width of 610 km (380 mi), and an area of 461,000 sq km (178,000 sq mi). The Crimean Peninsula projects into the Black Sea from the north, forming the shallow Sea of Azov on the east and the Karkinitskiy Gulf on the west. The former is almost entirely cut off from the Black Sea. The sea receives the drainage of a large part of central and eastern Europe through the Dnieper, Dniester, Southern Bug, and Danube rivers. It also receives waters from a considerable section of eastern European Russia, through the Don River (which flows into the Sea of Azov) and from the western Caucasus region through the Kuban’ (which also flows into the Sea of Azov), and a number of smaller rivers; and the Black Sea drains northern Asia Minor through the Çoruh (Chorokh), Yeşil Irmak, Kızılırmak, and Sakarya rivers. The floor of its single central basin lies 1,800 m (6,000 ft) below the surface; its greatest depth is 2,210 m (7,250 ft). Severe storms occur frequently on the sea, particularly during the winter season. The prevailing winter winds are from the north.

The Black Sea is known for its sturgeon and other fish. As an outlet for the products of Ukraine and adjoining republics, it is of special importance in regional commerce. The principal ports are Odesa (Odessa), Kherson, and Sevastopol' in Ukraine; P’ot’i and Bat’umi in Georgia; Novorossiysk in Russia; Constanţa in Romania; Burgas and Varna in Bulgaria; and Ereğli, Samsun, Sinop, and Trabzon in Turkey.

Navigation in the Black Sea began early. Many of the colonial and commercial activities of ancient Greece and Rome, and in later times of the Byzantine Empire, centered on it. For almost three centuries after 1453, when the Ottomans occupied Constantinople (present-day İstanbul), the modern capital and last stronghold of the Byzantine Empire, the sea was virtually closed to foreign commerce. The Russian Empire began to challenge Ottoman supremacy in the Black Sea early in the 18th century. By the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1856, which ended the Crimean War, the sea was opened to the commerce of all nations and was neutralized. In 1870 Alexander II, emperor of Russia, repudiated the neutralization section of the Treaty of Paris and placed a naval force in the Black Sea. A conference of European powers, held in 1871, sanctioned this action, but reaffirmed the right of the Ottoman sultan to close the Dardanelles and the Bosporus to war vessels. Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, the Russians gained important rights for their Black Sea commerce. During World War I (1914-1918) the Russian fleet in the Black Sea was active against the Ottoman Empire.