The Black Sea
The Black Sea is a large inland sea situated at the southeastern extremity of Europe. It is bordered by Ukraine to the north, Russia to the northeast, Georgia to the east, Turkey to the south, and Bulgaria and Romania to the west.
The roughly oval-shaped Black Sea occupies a large basin strategically connected to the distant waters of the Atlantic Ocean by the Bosporus (which emerges from the sea’s southwestern corner), the Sea of Marmara, the Dardanelles, the Aegean Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea.
The Crimean Peninsula thrusts into the Black Sea from the north, and just to its east the narrow Kerch Strait links the sea to the smaller Sea of Azov.
The Black Sea stretches more than 700 miles at its widest point and it reaches depths of more than 2,000 metres.It occupies about 163,000 square miles.
The Black Sea was a busy waterway on the crossroads of the ancient world: the Balkans to the west, the Eurasian steppes to the north, the Caucasus and Central Asia to the east, Asia Minor and Mesopotamia to the south, and Greece to the southwest.
The land at the eastern end of the Black Sea, in present-day Georgia, marked for the ancient Greeks the edge of the known world.
Greek presence in the Black Sea began at least as early as the 9th century BC with colonies scattered along the Black Sea’s southern coast, attracting traders and colonists due to the grain grown in the Black Sea hinterland. By 500 BC, permanent Greek communities existed all around the Black Sea, and a lucrative trade-network connected the entirety of the Black Sea to the wider Mediterranean.
The Black Sea became a virtual Ottoman Navy lake within five years of the Republic of Genoa losing control of the Crimean Peninsula in 1479, after which the only Western merchant vessels to sail its waters were those of Venice’s old rival Ragusa. The Black Sea became a trade route of slaves between Crimea and Ottoman Anatolia via the Crimean–Nogai slave raids in Eastern Europe.
Imperial Russia became a significant Black Sea power in the late-18th century, occupying Crimea in 1783. Ottoman restrictions on Black Sea navigation were challenged by the Black Sea Fleet (founded in 1783) of the Imperial Russian Navy.
The Crimean War, fought between 1853 and 1856, saw naval engagements between the French and British allies and the forces of Nicholas I of Russia. On 2 March 1855, after the death of Nicholas I, Alexander II became Tsar. On 15 January 1856, the new tsar took Russia out of the war on the very unfavourable terms of the Treaty of Paris (1856), which included the loss of a naval fleet on the Black Sea, and the provision that the Black Sea was to be a demilitarised zone similar to a contemporaneous region of the Baltic Sea.
The Black Sea was a significant naval theatre of World War I (1914–1918) and saw both naval and land battles between 1941 and 1945 during World War II. The coastal city of Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsuls was obliterated by the Nazis during the famous Seige of Sevastopol.The Soviet naval base was one of the strongest fortifications in the world. Its site, on a deeply eroded, bare limestone promontory at the southwestern tip of the Crimea, made an approach by land forces exceedingly difficult. The high-level cliffs overlooking Severnaya Bay protected the anchorage, making an amphibious landing just as dangerous. The Soviet Navy had built upon these natural defenses by modernizing the port and installing heavy coastal batteriesconsisting of 180mm and 305mm re-purposed battleship guns which were capable of firing inland as well as out to sea. The artillery emplacements were protected by reinforced concrete fortifications and 9.8-inch thick armored turrets.
After the Russian Revolution The Crimean Peninsula was part of Ukraine within the new Soviet Union and when Ukraine declared independence at the end of the 20th century it became part of Ukraine.
In 2014 Russia invaded Crimea and re took the peninsula. Since then the Black Sea has been contested between the two countries who both rely on it for maritime trade trade south through the Bosphorus to the Mediterranean.
After the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2022 the Black Sea became a war zone with each side attacking the others shipping including naval vessels . The Ukrainian port city of Odessa was frequently attacked by missiles and drones and the Russian Navy was forced to re locate from the Crimean Peninsula further east after some of its warships were destroyed by Ukrainian missiles
As of January 2025, neither Ukraine nor Russia control the Black Sea.around its northern borders.
Destinations: Ukraine / Russia / Turkey / Georgia / Bulgaria / Romania
