The Black Sea is the largest body of inland water in the world, located in the Eurasia region, a semi-enclosed sea surrounded by the plains of Eastern Europe to the north and the Balkans to the west, while the Caucasus Mountains to the east and the Anatolian Peninsula to the south, and the Bosphorus Strait is its only outlet to the open oceans to the south.
The Black Sea occupies an important strategic location, as it is located at the crossroads between Southeast Europe and West Asia, overlooking six countries, and represents a commercial and energy transit area, and a vital area in which the major powers: Russia and the United States of America, compete, with European and Asian regional powers engaged in a struggle for influence over it.
Location and geography
Located in Eurasia, the Black Sea separates southeastern Europe and western Asia, 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.
It is an oval-shaped semi-closed inland sea, and is the most isolated from the oceans in the world, and the Bosphorus Strait is its only outlet to the open waters south, connecting to the Mediterranean Sea through it through the Sea of Marmara and then the Aegean Sea through the Dardanelles Strait, as well as the Sea of Azov (an internal sea branching from the Black Sea in its northern part), through the Kerch Strait (Crimea).
It is the largest inland body of water in the world, with an area of about 461,1175 square kilometers, and its maximum extension from east to west is about 260 kilometers, and the shortest distance is located between Ras Sarich in Crimea and Ras Karimbi in the south, amounting to 2210 kilometers, and the deepest point is estimated at about <> meters.
The northern and northwestern shores of the sea are covered with valleys and rivers, while the Greater and Lesser Caucasus ranges form the eastern shore, while the Turkish Pontic Mountains line up in the south near the Bosphorus, where the terrain of the beach is moderate although it is still going downhill, and the coast between the ports of the cities of Sinop and Samsun in Turkey parallels a rugged group of underwater mountains, extending for about 160 kilometers.
Far north in the Burgasque Bay region, low mountains appear, with Bulgaria's Balkan Mountains stretching eastward, and the flat plateau along the northwestern shore giving way to the Danube Delta, which flows into the Black Sea.
Tributaries and water currents
About 25 rivers flow into the Black Sea, flowing from 24 countries, mostly from Europe, Central Asia and Turkey, and large European rivers flow into it, such as: the Danube River in the northwest, which forms the largest tributary of the sea, as well as the Dnieper and Don rivers.
It is also supplied by major rivers, including Rayoni, Kodori, Inguri, Kyzyl Ermak, Eshel Ermak, Sakarya, South Bok and Dniester.
The water level of the Black Sea is relatively high, receives its fresh water from rivers and rain, exchanges water only with the Mediterranean Sea, and all flows of water currents entering and leaving it occur in the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits.
The flow coming from the Mediterranean Sea is characterized by a higher degree of salinity and density than the outflow from the Black Sea, and takes place at the bottom of the basin, while the flow of fresh water of the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara occurs in the upper layers close to the surface, so the Black Sea was described as the largest body of water in the Meromekti basin.
Deep water does not mix with the upper layers of water, and this makes a significant difference in temperature between these layers, and makes more than 90% of the volume of the lower layers in the Black Sea hypoxic and inactive, while its surface waters are rich in oxygen.
The salinity of surface waters ranges from 17 to 18 parts per thousand, which is almost half the salinity of the oceans, and a marked increase in salinity occurs up to 21 parts per thousand at depths ranging from 50 to 150 metres, gradually increasing to reach 28 to 30 parts per thousand in the deepest parts of the sea.
Port of Bulgaria's Black Sea city of Primorsko (Getty Images)
Islands
Rising within the Black Sea areas of land, the most important of which is the Crimea in the north, in addition to small islands, up to about ten islands, belonging to the countries surrounding the Black Sea, which is a reservoir of animals and plants that make this sea more distinctive, and these islands have become important tourist attractions, and were a key reason for the region's economy.
The largest islands: Snake Island (Zmiinyi) located east of the Danube Delta, and follows Ukraine, and prominent islands are: St. Thomas Island in Bulgaria, which is famous for the presence of gray-water snakes that eat fish, and the islands: Saint Sirikus and Saint Anastasia belonging to Bulgaria, the Turkish island of Giresun, and the Ukrainian island of Perezan.
Climate
The climate of the Black Sea is generally continental, subject to clear seasonal fluctuations in temperature, and the northwestern part of it is characterized by cold winters and hot dry summers, and is exposed to polar continental depressions, accompanied by strong northeasterly winds, rapid temperature drops, and frequent rainfall.
The southeastern part protected by high mountains has a humid subtropical climate, with high rainfall and warm winters.
The average temperature in January over the central part of the sea is about 8°C, dropping to between 2°C and 3°C in the west, while in spring the temperature approaches 16°C and rises to around 24°C in summer.
Minimum temperatures are recorded in the northwest, reaching minus 30 degrees Celsius during periods of winter cold, while maximum temperatures are 37 degrees Celsius in Crimea in summer.
Nomenclature
The Black Sea was called in ancient times - often - the name "Ho Pintus", which means "the sea", while the Greeks called it "Pontus Axeinus", meaning the inhospitable sea, due to the difficulty of navigation in it, and perhaps helped by the presence of "savage" tribes on its shores.
In addition to the non-oxidizing nature of its waters, due to which the decomposition process is slow in the lower water layers, which led to many frightening rumors, and made the sea notorious.
With the establishment of Greek colonies along its shores, and the transformation of the area into an active and familiar place, it changed its name, contrary to the previous name, to become known as "Pontus Euxinu" (hospitable sea).
During the periods when the Turks controlled the lands outside the southern shores of the sea, they faced sudden storms that hit its waters, with which the waters seem very dark and black, and make it difficult to navigate it, so they called it the Black Sea (Karadenız) to reflect again the inhospitable side of this sea.
It is also mentioned in the face of its name as the Black Sea, that metal objects from ships, dead plants and animal materials that sank to a depth of more than 150 meters, and settled for a long period of time, became covered with a layer of black sludge, resulting from the high concentration of hydrogen sulfide, which makes the color of the water dark, so it was called the Black Sea.
The largest Black Sea island "Snake Island" lies east of the Danube Delta and belongs to Ukraine (Getty Images)
Geological history
The exact geological history of the Black Sea is not known, and it is believed that it is a remnant basin of the ancient Tethys Sea, which dates back to approximately 250 to 500 million years ago, and it is believed that the current shape of the sea appeared at the end of the Paleocene era (about 55 million years ago), where large-scale movements of the earth's crust led to the lifting of mountain ranges, which divided the ancient surroundings of Tethys into several water basins, and formed a great lake, the remains of which include the Black Sea and the Sea Azov, the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea.
As early as the Miocene (about 20 million years ago), the Black Sea gradually separated from the Caspian region, with the Pontics, Caucasus, Crimea, and Carpathians rising around it, and subsequent land movements and other sea level changes associated with glaciers occurred in the Pleistocene period, leading to intermittent contacts with the Mediterranean.
During the last ice age, the Black Sea became a large freshwater lake, and its contact with the Mediterranean Sea and with salt water through the Bosphorus is believed to have originated about 6500,7500 to <>,<> years ago.
Biological life
Deep water aquifers do not help biological life, due to their high density, and saturation with hydrogen sulfide, as a result of the accumulation of decomposing organic matter over thousands of years, and organisms of the category: protozoa, bacteria and some multicellular invertebrates only, can live in deep sea water.
The upper thin layer of marine waters (up to 150 meters) provides a suitable environment for the unique biological life of the Black Sea ecosystem, where approximately 168 species of fish and 4 species of marine mammals live.
Most of the flora and fauna of the Black Sea follows the biological life of the Mediterranean, while elements of the Caspian Sea are found in freshwater estuaries and estuaries.
The ecosystem is affected by external influences, whether by natural events, such as: fluctuations of environmental factors, or human influences, such as fisheries, pollution and industrialization in the surrounding area, so the six countries bordering the Black Sea signed the Bucharest Convention in 1992, aimed at protecting the Black Sea from pollution and protecting marine life.
المواني
يعدّ البحر الأسود شريانًا مهمًا للنقل على مدار العام، ويربط الدول المشاطئة له بالأسواق العالمية، وتحظى كل دولة من الدول المطلّة على العديد من المواني المهمة على ساحله.
ففي أوكرانيا تشكّل أوديسا المدينة التاريخية الواقعة على الساحل الجنوبي الغربي، الميناء البحري الرئيس والأكبر للبلاد، وهو عبارة عن مركز نقل بحري يتكوّن من 3 مواني: مجمع ميناء أوديسا، وميناء تشيرنومورسك (إيليتشيفسك سابقًا)، وميناء يوجني.
ويختصّ ميناء أوديسا بالنفط والمعادن، ويعدّ نقطة عبور رئيسة لصادرات الحبوب (الشعير والذرة)، بينما يختص ميناء إيليتشيفسك بالمعادن وحركة الحاويات، وميناء يوجني بالمواد الكيميائية، وفي الميناء الأخير ينتهي خط أنابيب الأمونيا الوحيد في العالم "تولياتي"، حيث يقع مجمع معالجة هذه المادة.
وتتم في هذه المواني معظم عمليات الشحن البحري، التي تبلغ حوالي 60٪ من إجمالي حركة البضائع عبر المواني البحرية الأوكرانية.
وترتبط الصناعات البترولية والكيميائية بخطوط أنابيب إستراتيجية تتجه إلى روسيا والاتحاد الأوروبي، كما يوفر الميناء عبّارات ركاب منتظمة إلى موانئ البحر الأسود وغيرها؛ مثل: إسطنبول وفارنا وحيفا.
وتعدّ مدينة خيرسون الموطن الرئيس لبناء السفن، ومركزًا أساسيًا للشحن البحري، وتحظى بأهمية ومكانة إستراتيجية كبيرة، كونها ميناء مهمًا يطلّ على البحر الأسود وبحر آزوف ونهر دنيبرو، ما يسمح بالاتصال جغرافيًّا بمناطق حيوية ومهمة.
وقد كانت منذ تأسيسها حصنًا لحماية الواجهة الروسية، وأول قاعدة بحرية روسية لبناء السفن على البحر الأسود، وبعد إعلان موسكو احتلالها في 2022 تحوّلت قاعدة "تشرنوبايفكا" الجوية في المدينة إلى نقطة تمركز للقوات الروسية.
ويُعد ميناء ماريوبول الذي يقع جنوب شرقي أوكرانيا أكبر مواني بحر آزوف، وكان قبل الأزمة الأوكرانية معبرًا رئيسًا لصادرات الدولة إلى مختلف دول العالم، بعد ميناء مدينة أوديسا، كما تشكّل المدينة مصدرًا رئيسًا لاستخراج وتصدير الحديد والفولاذ، وفيها مصنع "آزوف ستال"، أحد أكبر مصانع التعدين في أوروبا والعالم.
كما تتوافر روسيا على العديد من المواني على البحر الأسود، ويُعدّ ميناء نوفوروسيسك أكبرها، وهو الميناء الرئيس الذي يُصدَّر عبره النفط والحبوب الروسية وغيرها من المنتجات إلى البلدان في جميع أنحاء العالم، ويضم حوضًا لبناء السفن ومحطة لخطوط أنابيب النفط، وقاعدة بحرية روسية مهمة.
ساحل منطقة كوجالي بسكاريا بتركيا ويظهر فيه تحول لون البحر الأسود للبني (الأناضول)
An important Russian port on the Black Sea is the port of Anapa, which is described as one of the "jewels of the Black Sea", and the Turk Stream line runs near it to transport natural gas to Turkey.
Of particular importance is the Taman port, with LNG cargoes with a capacity of 20 million tonnes per year, as well as crude oil tankers.
One of the important ports on the Black Sea, Sochi is the largest tourist city in the region, dubbed the "Russian Riviera", and was famous for hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics.
The port of Tuapsi, located near the Russian naval base in Novorossiysk, is known for its importance in transporting oil.
In Crimea, which has been controlled by Russia since 2014, the port of Sevastopol is the most important port, dominated by military activities, as it is the headquarters of the largest Russian fleet, and it is also a port for transporting passengers, receiving about a million tourists every year, in addition to being a center for the export of various goods, including bulk metals and timber.
On the west coast is the port city of Constanta, Romania's largest port and the largest seaport on the Black Sea, linking oil-producing regions with foreign markets.
Georgia also has several seaports along the Black Sea coast, the largest of which is the port of Batumi on the southeastern coast of the Black Sea, which is Georgia's largest container, shipping and ferry port, specializing in oil transport.
Varna in eastern Bulgaria (the country's third-largest city) is one of Bulgaria's main ports, evolving from a fishing settlement on the western coast of the Black Sea to the largest seaport complex and Bulgaria's largest resort.
In Turkey, Samsun, a former Greek colony, has become Turkey's largest port on the Black Sea, the only port on this sea with a railway line, and a stopping point for shipping to and from Anatolia.
Trabzon is a major port on the Black Sea, a commercial center on a branch of the historic Silk Road, and still an important gateway connecting East and West.
Strategic importance
The Black Sea represented a region of strategic importance in many aspects, especially in the economy, trade and transport, and throughout history it was a waterway at the crossroads of the ancient world, and hosted on its shores countless civilizations and tribes, and witnessed many conflicts and wars between many peoples, such as the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Goths, Huns, Avars, Bulgarians, Crusaders, Venetian people and Tatars.
Once a sea within the Ottoman Empire, it became a clash between three new old empires, from Russia to Turkey to NATO, each of which represents strategic and vital importance and a key sphere of influence and domination.
The Black Sea occupies a strategic location between southeastern Europe, extends from Russia and Georgia towards Asia, and is overlooked by four other countries: Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine, and is linked to warm seas and oceans across the Bosphorus.
Thus, it acquires geostrategic importance for the countries bordering it, as it is the link between these countries and the outside world, and it is an important link between their ports and the Mediterranean Sea, and provides a space for transport and transit of commercial ships, goods and goods.
The Black Sea represents an important outlet for food grains at the global level, as Russia and Ukraine are the most important wheat exporters in the world with a quarter of the global percentage, with the ports of Odessa and Bevedini, for example, exporting large shipments through the Black Sea, to Europe and Africa.
With the beginning of the Russian war on Ukraine in February 2022, the blockade of the ports from which grain exports in Odessa, Kherson and Mariupol, and the bombing of facilities in them, the whole world began to feel the economic consequences of the lack of global wheat supplies and the high cost of importing it.
In addition, the crisis has shown that the Black Sea is not only a commercial outlet for these countries, but also an arena for competition among them for greater access to the outside world, and therefore its strategic importance for these countries is increasing, because any threat to it means imposing a kind of blockade and isolation on them.
The Black Sea also enjoys great (geopolitical) importance for the major powers and their interests, as it is an important route for exporting energy from Asia to Europe, where the Caspian Sea and Central Asia are an important region in the global energy supply, because of its large quantities of oil and gas.
Russia is the first source of energy to Europe, which makes the Black Sea an energy sea transit area, and gas pipelines are distributed in the region, including: the Bluestream pipeline, which passes through the Black Sea towards Turkey, then Bulgaria, Greece and Italy.
Bulgaria and Romania import their oil resources through the coastal ports of the Black Sea, and on the western side of the sea they import large quantities of oil through the Bosphorus, coming from the Mediterranean Sea, which makes it highly dependent on maritime transport to meet these needs.
The waters of the Black Sea contain large amounts of oil, and its export comes from three terminals: Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, at about 1.8 million barrels per day.
Cargo ships in the Black Sea before entering the Sulina Canal, a river channel between the Danube and the Black Sea (Getty Images)
Strategic importance for Russia
The Black Sea is of particular importance to Russia, as it has always considered it a strategic region, providing it with access to warm waters, where the Mediterranean Sea and beyond, to export its main commodities of oil, gas and wheat, and to protect its economic and trade links with European markets.
The process of economic separation between Russia and European countries - especially after the disruption of Nord Stream pipelines - has raised the importance of the Black Sea for Russia, as it is one of its main geo-economic corridors in global markets.
Russia also uses the Black Sea for military purposes, relying on its bases, many of which are located in Crimea, for military operations as far away as in Syria.
Russia has been keen to maintain its military base in Sevastopol in Crimea, Russia's most important naval base in the Black Sea, and for centuries the city of Sevastopol has been the main port of its fleet.
Since 2008, Moscow has maintained a significant military presence in the seaside region of Abkhazia, which stretches for hundreds of miles on the Black Sea coast. This contributed to Abkhazia becoming an independent and pro-Russian state.
Russia took control of Crimea in 2014, thus becoming the dominant power over the Black Sea and its passages to the Sea of Azov through the Kerch Strait and to the Mediterranean through the Bosphorus.
The Russian military intervention in Ukraine in February 2022 comes under the pretext of preserving Russian national security, which aims to prevent NATO's eastward expansion, support the strategic balance in the Black Sea, and prevent it from decisively shifting in favor of NATO if Ukraine joins it.
This strategic importance of the Black Sea has made it a vital area in which major powers, especially Russia and the United States, compete, as European and Asian regional powers engage in a struggle for influence over it.