Black Sea

Black Sea, or Euxine, is an inland sea, lying between Europe and Asia, bounded by Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, and Romania. This tideless and almost landlocked sea communicates in the north with the Sea of Azov, and in the southwest it is connected to the Mediterranean Sea through the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles. It is twice the size of Britain, being 700 miles in greatest length and 400 miles in greatest breadth.

It washes the shores of Turkey, Rumelia, Bulgaria, Russia, and Asia Minor, and receives the waters of the Danube, Dneister, Bug, and Don, from Europe, and the Kizil-Irmak and Sakaria from Asia - three times as much as is received by the Mediterranean. It has but one island, Adassi, off the mouths of the Danube. There are no reefs or shoals, hence, in summer, navigation is very safe. In winter it is harassed by severe storms. Among the chief ports are Odessa, Kherson, Batoum, Trebizond, and Sinope. The first two are ice-bound in January and February. For three centuries the Turks excluded all other nations from its waters, but the Russians (1774), Austrians (1784), French and English (1802) secured trading rights. Russia and Turkey keep fleets in it, but other warships are excluded. Its waters are fresher than those of the ocean, and it has no noticeable tides.