Black Sea Regional overview

Today we zoom out just a little to get a perspective on the entire Black Sea region.

The Black Sea lies near the center of this image with the Caspian Sea to the East (right) and the Mediterranean Sea to the South, below.

A little sliver of the blue of the Persian Gulf is visible in the very bottom right corner. And even a little Red Sea at bottom.

The Baltic Sea is visible near the upper left corner.

From this altitude the Sea of Azov looks like a lake to the North of the Black Sea. But the Sea of Azov is connected to the Black Sea by the Kerch Strait.

This image also gives you a perspective of the Crimean Penninsula that sticks down into the Black Sea from the North.

The Black Sea is connected to the Mediterranean and therefore the Atlantic Ocean by the Bosporus Strait and the Dardanelle Strait. More about these fascinating features later.....

Several major capital cities are visible. Moscow, the capital of Russia, to the north. And Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine between the Black Sea and Moscow. Ankara, the capital of Turkey, in the center of Turkey between the Med and the Black. Tehran, the capital of Iran is visible just south of the Caspian. 

For orientation purposes, due to the current international focus on the war in Iraq, Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, is near the center of the land area between the "5 blue jewels" of Black, Caspian, Persian Gulf, Red and Med. You can even pick out Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on the west shore of the Caspian.

Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, is just east and south of the Black Sea and Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, is about due east from the Black.

Notice the greenish tinge to the lands to the North of the Black Sea. And to the south you can see the brownish deserts of Iraq, Syria, Jordan and so forth.

We are just getting oriented to the Black Sea region in order to expand our exploration soon into the cultures and economics and opportunities of the Black Sea's dynamics.