Black Sea

or Euxine , an inland sea, lying between Europe and Asia, twice the size of Britain, being 700 m. in greatest length and 400 m. in greatest breadth; communicates in the N. with the Sea of Azov, and in the SW., through the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmora, and the Dardanelles, with the Mediterranean. It washes the shores of Turkey, Rumelia, Bulgaria, Ru ia, and Asia Minor; receives the waters of the Danube, Dneister, Bug, and Don, from Europe, and the Kizil-Irmak and Sakaria from Asia—three times as much as is received by the Mediterranean. It has but one island, Ada i, off the mouths of the Danube; no reefs or shoals; hence in summer navigation is very safe. In winter it is hara ed by severe storms. Among the chief ports are Ode a, Kherson, Batoum, Trebizond, and Sinope; the first two are ice-bound in January and February. For three centuries the Turks excluded all other nations from its waters; but the Ru ians (1774), Austrians (1784), French and English (1802) secured trading rights. Ru ia and Turkey keep fleets in it, but other warships are excluded. Its waters are fresher than those of the ocean, and it has no noticeable tides.