The Black Sea trade and economy provide an integral part in the connection between Asia and Europe. [1] In addition to sea ports and fishing, key activities include hydrocarbons exploration for oil and natural gas, and tourism. According to NATO, the Black sea is a strategic corridor that provides smuggling channels for moving legal and illegal goods including drugs, radioactive materials, and counterfeit goods that can be used to finance terrorism. [2]
According to the International Transport Workers' Federation 2013 study, there were at least 30 operating merchant seaports in the Black Sea (including at least 12 in Ukraine). [3]
According to the International Transport Workers' Federation 2013 study, there were around 2,400 commercial vessels operating in the Black Sea. [3]
Anchovy: the Turkish commercial fishing fleet catches around 300,000 tons per year on average, and fishery carried out mainly in winter and the highest portion of the stock is caught between November and December. [4]
Since the 1980s, the Soviet Union started offshore drilling for petroleum in the sea's western portion (adjoining Ukraine's coast). Independent Ukraine continued and intensified that effort within its exclusive economic zone, inviting major international oil companies for exploration. Discovery of the new, massive oilfields in the area stimulated an influx of foreign investments. It also provoked a short-term peaceful territorial dispute with Romania which was resolved in 2011 by an international court redefining the exclusive economic zones between the two countries.
The Black Sea contains oil and natural gas resources but exploration in the sea is incomplete. As of 2017 [update] , 20 wells are in place. Throughout much of its existence, the Black Sea has had significant oil and gas-forming potential because of significant inflows of sediment and nutrient-rich waters. However, this varies geographically. For example, prospects are poorer off the coast of Bulgaria because of the large influx of sediment from the Danube which obscured sunlight and diluted organic-rich sediments. Many of the discoveries to date have taken place offshore of Romania in the Western Black Sea and only a few discoveries have been made in the Eastern Black Sea.
During the Eocene, the Paratethys Ocean was partially isolated and sea levels fell. During this time sand shed off the rising Balkanide, Pontide and Caucasus mountains trapped organic material in the Maykop Suite of rocks through the Oligocene and early Miocene. Natural gas appears in rocks deposited in the Miocene and Pliocene by the paleo-Dnieper and pale-Dniester rivers, or in deep-water Oligocene-age rocks. Serious exploration began in 1999 with two deep-water wells, Limanköy-1 and Limanköy-2, drilled in Turkish waters. Next, the HPX (Hopa)-1 deepwater well targeted late Miocene sandstone units in Achara-Trialet fold belt (also known as the Gurian fold belt) along the Georgia-Turkey maritime border. Although geologists inferred that these rocks might have hydrocarbons that migrated from the Maykop Suite, the well was unsuccessful. No more drilling happened for five years after the HPX-1 well. Then in 2010, Sinop-1 targeted carbonate reservoirs potentially charged from the nearby Maykop Suite on the Andrusov Ridge, but the well-struck only Cretaceous volcanic rocks. Yassihöyük-1 encountered similar problems. Other Turkish wells, Sürmene-1 and Sile-1 drilled in the Eastern Black Sea in 2011 and 2015 respectively tested four-way closures above Cretaceous volcanoes, with no results in either case. A different Turkish well, Kastamonu-1 drilled in 2011 did successfully find thermogenic gas in Pliocene and Miocene shale-cored anticlines in the Western Black Sea. A year later in 2012, Romania drilled Domino-1 which struck gas prompting the drilling of other wells in the Neptun Deep. In 2016, the Bulgarian well Polshkov-1 targeted Maykop Suite sandstones in the Polshkov High and Russia is in the process of drilling Jurassic carbonates on the Shatsky Ridge as of 2018. [5]
In August 2020, Turkey found 320 billion cubic metres (11 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas in the biggest ever discovery in the Black Sea, and hoped to begin production by 2023. The Turkish drilling ship Fatih, had been carrying out exploration operations in the Tuna-1 sector in the western Black Sea for the past month.[ when? ] The field is called the Sakarya Gas Field. The sector is near where Romania has also found gas reserves. [6]
 | Please help merge and rearrange lists of cities clockwise chronological sequence 'as would occur on a map' with old names, if any. (Purpose is to create a proper interactive map for the article). Later shift brief list to Black Sea . Please see Talk:Black Sea#Some article restructuring and overhaul |
In the years following the end of the Cold War, the popularity of the Black Sea as a tourist destination steadily increased. Tourism at Black Sea resorts became one of the region's growth industries. [7]
| Contemporary name/country | Old & Ottoman names/Country | Known for trade/tourism | Geographic Coordinates | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Istanbul/Turkey |
| |||
| Ahtopol/Bulgaria | Ahtenbolu/Ottoman Empire | |||
| Burgas/Bulgaria | Ahelo-Pirgas/Ottoman Empire | |||
| Varna/Bulgaria | ||||
| Constanta/Romania | ||||
| Illichivsk/Ukraine | ||||
| Odessa/Ukraine | ||||
| Mykolayiv/Ukraine | ||||
| Chornomorske/Russia* | ||||
| Sevastopol/Russia * | ||||
| Feodosia/Russia* | ||||
| Kerch/Russia* | ||||
| Mariupol/Russia | ||||
| Novorosiysk/Russia | ||||
| Tuapse/Russia | ||||
| Sochi/Russia | ||||
| Sokhumi/Georgia | ||||
| Batumi/Georgia | ||||
| Trabzon/Turkey | Trapezunt//Ottoman Empire | |||
| Samsun/Turkey | ||||
| Sinop/Turkey | ||||
| Zonguldak/Turky | ||||
| Izmit/Turkey | ||||
| Istanbul/Turkey | ||||
The following is a list of notable Black Sea resort towns:
Most populous urban areas along the Black Sea coastline
 Odessa | Rank | City | Country | Region/County | Population (urban) |  Constanța |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Istanbul |  Turkey | Istanbul | 14,324,240 [9] | ||
| 2 | Odessa |  Ukraine | Odessa | 1,003,705 | ||
| 3 | Samsun | Turkey | Samsun | 535,401 [10] | ||
| 5 | Varna |  Bulgaria | Varna | 500,076 | ||
| 4 | Constanța |  Romania | Constanța | 491,498 [11] | ||
| 6 | Sevastopol | disputed:  Russia(de facto) / Ukraine ( de jure ) | Federal city / City with special status | 379,200 | ||
| 7 | Sochi | Russia | Krasnodar Krai | 343,334 | ||
| 8 | Trabzon | Turkey | Trabzon | 305,231 [12] | ||
| 9 | Novorossiysk | Russia | Krasnodar Krai | 241,952 | ||
| 10 | Burgas | Bulgaria | Burgas | 223,902 [13] | ||
| 11 | Ordu | Turkey | Ordu | 217,640 | ||
| 12 | Batumi |  Georgia | Adjara | 204,156 [14] |
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia; east of the Balkan Peninsula, south of the East European Plain in Eastern Europe, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia in Western Asia. It is supplied by major rivers, principally the Danube, Dnieper, and Don. The watersheds of many countries drain into the sea beyond the six that share its coast.
Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It lies on the coast of the Black Sea and is bordered to the north and northeast by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan.
Batumi is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of the Caucasus. Much of Batumi's economy revolves around tourism and gambling, but the city is also an important sea port and includes industries like shipbuilding, food processing and light manufacturing. Since 2010, Batumi has been transformed by the construction of modern high-rise buildings, as well as the restoration of classical 19th-century edifices lining its historic Old Town.
Crimea is a peninsula along the northern coast of the Black Sea in Eastern Europe. It is almost entirely surrounded by both the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov to the northeast. Crimea is located south of Kherson Oblast in Ukraine, to which it is connected by the Isthmus of Perekop, and lies west of Krasnodar Krai in Russia, from which it is separated by the Strait of Kerch though linked by the Crimean Bridge since 2018. The Arabat Spit is located to its northeast, a narrow strip of land that separates a system of lagoons named Sivash from the Sea of Azov. To the peninsula's west, across the Black Sea, lies Romania, and to its south, Turkey.
Europe, the westernmost portion of Eurasia—is often divided into regions based on geographical, cultural or historical criteria. Many European structures currently exist. Some are cultural, economic, or political; examples include the Council of Europe, the European Broadcasting Union with the Eurovision Song Contest, and the European Olympic Committees with the European Games. Russia dominates the continent by both area and population; spanning roughly 40% of its total landmass, with over 15% of its total population.
A raion is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is from the French "rayon", which is both a type of a subnational entity and a division of a city, and is commonly translated in English as "district".
The Black Sea Fleet is the fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea.
The Black Sea Naval Force is a Black Sea naval cooperation program established in 2001 on the initiative of Turkey with the participation of Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia and Georgia.
UTC+03:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +03:00. In areas using this time offset, the time is three hours later than the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Following the ISO 8601 standard, a time with this offset would be written as, for example, 2019-02-08T23:36:06+03:00.
White Stream is a proposed pipeline project to transport natural gas from the Caspian region to Romania and Ukraine with further supplies to Central Europe.
Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı (TPAO) was founded in 1954 by Law No. 6327 with the responsibility of being involved in hydrocarbon exploration, drilling, production, refinery and marketing activities as Turkey's national company.
The Georgian Coast Guard is the maritime arm of the Georgian Border Police, within the Ministry for Internal Affairs. It is responsible for the maritime protection of the entire 310 km (190 mi) coastline of Georgia, as well as the Georgian territorial waters. The primary missions of the service are administration of the territorial waters, marine pollution protection, maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, port security and maritime defense. The former Georgian Navy was absorbed into the Coast Guard in 2009.
International Black Sea Club is an international non-governmental organisation uniting several cities on the Black Sea and in its vicinity. It has the status of Observer in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation organisation and the special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It was created in 1992 in Odessa, Ukraine and its current president is Ionut Pucheanu, the mayor of Galati City (Romania).
Konstantin Fyodorovich Zatulin is a Russian politician, first deputy chairman of the committee of the State Duma for the CIS and relations with Russian nationals abroad. He represents the Sochi constituency.
European route E 97 is an A-class European Route in Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, and Turkey. The highway runs for 1,360 kilometres (850 mi) in total. It connects the North Black Sea region with the South Black Sea region along the eastern shores of the sea.
Turkvision Song Contest 2013 was the inaugural edition of the Turkvision Song Contest, held in Eskişehir, Turkey. Twenty-four Turkic regions, which have either a large Turkic population or a widely spoken Turkic language, participated in the contest. The semi-final took place on 19 December 2013, while the final took place on 21 December 2013.
The geology of Romania is structurally complex, with evidence of past crustal movements and the incorporation of different blocks or platforms to the edge of Europe, driving recent mountain building of the Carpathian Mountains. Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the southeast, Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, and Moldova to the east.
