The Black Sea is connected in the northeast, through the Kerch Strait, to the Sea of Azov; in the southwest, through the Bosporus Strait, to the Sea of Marmara; and through the Dardanelles to the Mediterranean Sea.
It has an area of 422,000 square kilometers, a length of 1,150 kilometers, and a maximum width of 580 kilometers. Its average depth is 1,240 meters, and its greatest depth reaches 2,245 meters. The total length of its coastline is 4,090 kilometers.
The western and northwestern shores are generally low and flat, though in some places they rise into steep cliffs. By contrast, the eastern, southern, and southern Crimean coasts are largely mountainous.
Its largest bays include Yagorlyk, Tendra, Dzharylhach, Karkinits, Kalamita, and Feodosia (in Ukraine), Varna and Burgas (in Bulgaria), and Sinop and Samsun along the southern coast in Turkey.
The Black Sea has relatively few islands. The largest are Dzharylhach (62 km²), Berezan, and Zmiinyi.
Among the major rivers flowing into the Black Sea are the Danube, Dnieper, and Dniester. Smaller rivers include the Mzymta, Psou, Bzyb, Rioni, Kodori, and Inguri in the east; the Çoruh, Kızılırmak, Yeşilırmak, and Sakarya in the south; and the Southern Bug in the north.
