Bosphorus

The Bosphorus Strait is an 18.5 mi. [30 km.] long waterway that connects the Black Sea in the north with the Sea of Marmara to the south. It is the body of water that separates Asia from Europe!

Its width varies from 0.5 to 2.8 mi. [660 to 4,500 m.] and its depth from 165 to 650 ft. [50 to over 200 m.]. The surface current flows from north to south while the undercurrent flows from south to north.

Given the importance of Black Sea ports (including oil pipeline terminals) this connection to the Mediterranean Sea is of inestimable strategic importance.

Bosphorus means “Ford of the Cow,” and it derives its name from a Greek myth that recounts that the god Zeus tried to conceal his lover “Io,” as a cow, in it in order to escape the wrath of his wife Hera!