Black Sea

Black Sea, or Euxine (ancient name Pontus Euxinus), lies between Europe and Asia, with Russia (on its N. and E., and Turkey on its S. and W. Its area is estimated at about 170,000 square miles, its greatest length being 700 miles, and greatest breadth 400 miles, and coast line 2,000 miles. As to its depth it increases uniformly with the distance from the shore, and in the centre the bottom has not been reached at 1,070 fathoms. It receives from Europe the waters of the Danube, Dniester, Bog, Dnieper, and Don, and from Asia the Kizil-Irmak and Sakaria, draining an extent of territory in Europe and Asia of about 1,000,000 square miles, one of the largest drainage areas in the world. On the S.W. it communicates with the Mediterranean by the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmora, and the Dardanelles; and on the N.E. with the Sea of Azof by the Straits of Yenikale. It has only one island, Serpent Isle. Odessa is its chief port from a commercial point of view; others are Kherson, Eupatoria, Sebastopol, Batoum, Trebizond, Sinope, and Varna. Of its peninsulas the most celebrated is the Crimea, on its N. shore. There is no noticeable tide in this sea, but strong currents are occasioned by the large bodies of water that flow into it, and these set for the most part towards the Bosphorus. Its waters are not so salt as the ocean, and easily freeze, the northern ports being blocked for several months in winter time. Though there are great varieties of fish, yet the fisheries are unimportant, being confined mainly to sturgeon in the Straits of Yenikale. The Black Sea has long been known to navigators, and has played an important part in ancient as well as modern times. At one time Russia endeavoured to close it against the ships of other nations; since the Crimean war, however, it has been open to all trading vessels. In 1856 it was neutralised by treaty, and interdicted to warships with certain trifling exceptions. In 1870, during the Franco-German war, Russia announced that she would no longer be bound by these restrictions, and they were abrogated in 1871.