The Black Sea is a typical inner sea, and is situated between South-eastern Europe and Asia Minor. Its waters lave the shores of Balkan Peninsula on the west, it is restricted by the Russian plain on the north, by the Caucasian seacoast on the east, and by the Asia Minor(Anatolian) Peninsula on the south. Its total coastline is 4090 km. The Black Sea catchment area is about 2 500 000 sq. km. and is four times the catchment area of Bulgaria. It represents 1/853 from the total area of all the seas and the oceans on Earth. Its maximum depth is 2,245 m., and its average depth is 1271 metres. The maximum length is measured between Burgas and Kobuleti (Georgia) and is 1167 km., and the maximum width is 624 km.
The countries that have an outlet on the Black Sea are: Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine; and the largest Black Sea cities are Istanbul, Burgas, Varna, Constanta, Odessa, Sevastopol, Yalta, Novorossiysk, Batumi, Trabzon and Samsun.
It is connected with the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean through the Bosporus, with the Sea of Marmora by the Dardanelles, and with the Sea of Azov by Kerch Strait. It has a few small islands, five of which are by Bulgarian coast: Snake Island, St. Anastasia Island, St. Ivan Island, St. Peter Island and St. Cyricus Island. In ancient times the sea was called Pontus Axenius and Pontus Euxinus. One of the branches of the Silk Road, which connected Europe and China through the Caucasus and Central Asia, went through the Black Sea.



The Black Sea basin has suffered many changes throughout the ages. In the Antiquity it was freshwater sea at a considerably lower level and wasn’t directly connected with the Mediterranean. According to latest scientific researches, the world deluge has caused a break near the Bosporus and caused Mediterranean waters flow into the Black Sea. This was followed by an increase of its level and its water saltiness. Because of the plentiful income of river waters, the sea water of Black Sea is less salty (17.3 ‰), which reflects well on bathing in it. In comparison, the water in the Mediterranean and in the World Ocean has a salt level of 36 ‰.
The special structure of its water mass is a unique feature of the Black Sea. In result of the vertical distribution of its saltiness and its temperature, the water mass has two layers: upper, containing oxygen (down to 200 metres), and lower in which oxygen is replaced by hydrogen sulphide (below 200 metres). There is no other sea with such a structure of water mass on Earth.
Because of its small sizes, insignificant low- and high-tides (3 – 8 cm.) rise in the Black Sea. During a storm, the winds cause significantly greater sea level fluctuations (10 – 20 cm). The Black Sea coast climate is characterised by not so cold winter and comparatively hot summer with a lot of sunny days. During the summer the sea water warms up to 24 - 26° С.
The Black Sea has a great variety of biological species. About 180 kinds of fish inhabit it, 26 of which have a trade value. There are also three dolphin species.

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