AZOV, Sea of (the ancient Pains Mmotis), an arm of the Black Sea, with which it is con nected by the Strait of Kertch or Yenilcale. Its greatest length is 226 miles and widest breadth 110 miles, with a superficial area of nearly 15,000 miles. To the northeast it narrows into the Gulf of Taganrog, formerly called the Gulf of Azov. The southwestern shore is formed by the ((Spit') or Tongue of Arabat —a strip of land, mud and sand 70 miles long and varying from 1,000 yards to miles in breadth. Be hind or inside this strip, and bordering on the Crimean Peninsula, lies the Sivash or °Putrid Sea,)) which connects with the Sea of Azov through the narrow Strait of Genichesk. The odor arising from the decayed vegetation of the marshes and a kind of gas-oil is most unpleas ant and unhealthy. Whereas the water in the Sea of Azov is not very salty — in the Gulf of Taganrog it is even potable — that of the Sivash contains more salt than perhaps any other sea. This salt is extracted in large quan tities (over 1,000,000 tons per annum) and forms an important industry. Shortly before
the outbreak of the European War the Russian government began the task of piercin the Perekop Isthmus, which, when complete will give the Putrid Sea an outlet into the lack Sea and thereby convert the Crimean Pen insula into an island. This may not improbably produce a wholesome change in the atmosphere. In 1835 the Russians constructed a highway along the Spit of Arabat, since when a con siderable population and numerous buildings have sprung up. The ruins of an old Tartar fort, captured by the Russians in 1771, still remain at Arabat, a village where the Spit attaches to the Crimea in the south. The Sea of Azov is very shallow and navigation is difficult in parts. The waters abound with fish. Violent storms occur, at times lowering the water level by five feet. There is reason to believe that, thousands of years ago, it was connected with the Caspian Sea. The nver Don flows into the Gulf of Taganrog. Of the few scattered islands the largest is Biryutch.