BLACK SEA (Let. Pon tus Eu.rinus, Gk. II6wros EtlEavos, Pontos Euxcinos, hospitable sea, originally *o'er, aa'cinos, inhospitable; Turk !cure (kn. black sea). An inland sea lying between eastern Europe and Asia Minor, and connected with the Mediterranean by the Bos porus, the Sea of Marmora, and the Darda nelles (Map: Europe, G 4). It is bounded on the north by European Russia; on the east by Caucasia; on the south by Asia :Minor; on the west by European Turkey, Bulgaria, Rumania, and Russia. It has a length from east to west of about 750 miles, a greatest width of 330 miles, and covers an area (not including the Sea of Azov) of about 165,000 square miles. The Crimean Peninsula projects into the Black Sea from the north, forming the Sea of Azov and the Gulf of Perekop. The former is almost en tirely cut off from the Black Sea, and is very shallow. The 'Black Sea is very deep; the floor of a great part of the central basin lies more than 6000 feet the surface, and the greatest depths considerably exceed 7000 feet. The Black Sea receives the drainage of a large part of Cen tral Europe through the Dnieper, Dniester, Bug, and Danube; of a considerable section of eastern Russia through the Don (which flows into the Sea of Azov) ; of the western Caucasus region through the Kuban and a number of smaller rivers; and of northern Asia Minor through the Tchoruk, the Ycshil lrmak, the Kizil Irmak, and the Sakaria. Tidal action is scarcely percepti ble, but the sect-level rises and falls with the in crease and decrease in volume of the tributary waters. There is a strong surface current set
ting toward the Bosporus, and an undercurrent. flowing in an opposite direction from the ..Egean Sea. The latter current is heavy and saline, and to its agency is due the phenomenon that the waters of the Black Sea contain nearly 2 per cent. of salt, although constantly fed by large rivers. The Black Sea is visited by severe storms of both local and general character. On the north shore the southerly windy are most dread ed, while near the Bosporus the so-called booth from the northeast are particularly violent. The climate, notwithstanding its southern posi tion, is marked by considerable severity. In win ter heavy fogs form, which obscure the sunlight and lend a (lark aspect to the waters, thus par tially justifying its name. The Black Sea is of great economic importance to the Russian Em pire, as it furnishes an outlet for the extensive agricultural region of the south. Communica tion is maintained with the Caspian Sea by a railway from Baku to Batum, between which points there is also a pipe-line for the transport of petroleum. The principal ports on the Black Sea are Odessa, Poti, and Batum, in Russian territory, and Trebizond, in Turkey. There are no islands worthy of mention.