Kerch Strait

The Kerch Strait connects the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.

The Sea of Azov is really beautiful and has a lot of interesting features. We will revisit the Sea of Azov soon but today we will continue to focus on the question of where the water comes from to fill the Black Sea

In this image you can see the Crimean Peninsula sticking out into the Black Sea. The Kerch Strait lies between Crimea and the Russian mainland to the East.

Crimea looks sort of triangular with it's three prominent sections.

The city of Kerch is located on the far eastern point of Crimea on a cool bay on the Black Sea side.

The water from the Don river comes into the Sea of Azov on the top right and exits through the Kerch Strait.

In this close up of Crimea you can see the Kerch Strait at the bottom of the Sea of Azov.

There are some incredibly beautiful beaches on the inside of the Kerch Strait on the Sea of Azov on the Crimea side to the west of the strait. This is on the Ukraine side.

On the other side, the Russian Side, there are some neat marshes with lots of wildlife.

In this last image you can see the yellow border line between Ukraine on the left and Russia on the right.

Notice the interesting bays including the one on the left where the city of Kerch lies.

You can click on the image to get a closer view.

You can see the patterns of the fields under cultivation.

The Kerch Strait is some tricky water. Lots of swirling currents and cross-winds.

There were a few serious maritime incidents in the Kerch Strait this last winter including an oil spill and several ships that sank in a big storm. More on that later.

There are quite a few shipwrecks in this area.

From here the water swirls around in the Black Sea and eventually empties into the Mediterranean through the Bosporus Strait at the bottom left part of the Black Sea.

Next time we will explore more about the many interesting rivers that fill up the Black Sea.

Intro to Crimea

Crimea. In Russian it is called "Krym." Pronounced "cream."

What a magical place. The topography is stunning. A low area in the North connects Crimea to mainland Ukraine. And down in the South of Crimea there are huge rock cliffs that drop precipitously into the Black Sea about 4000 feet.

Crimea was long the playground of the Tsars. And even today it is traditional for Russians and Ukrainians to travel to Crimea to "have a rest." Soak in the sun. Breathe the fresh air blowing off the Black.

The center of Crimea holds the city of Simferopol, International Airport Identifier- SIP. Try putting that into your online flight reservations system!

Yalta is an amazing city with it's beautiful boardwalk along the sea and fine restaurants and even a few nightclubs and casinos.

Sevastopol is the famous home of the Russian Black Sea Navy. In Sevastopol there are more than 1800 various historical monuments including ancient greek ruins and World War 2 battlegrounds. More about the history of Sevastopol later....

Kerch is the city perched on the eastern edge of the Crimean Peninsula looking across the Kerch Strait to Russia.

Crimea is currently part of the country of Ukraine. But it was only recently so. Since 1954.

Most of the people in Crimea speak Russian, not Ukrainian and consider themselves Russian, not Ukrainian. More about the future of Crimea later....right now we are just getting to know the various points of interest and spatial relationships between the Black Sea and it's cities and rivers and so forth....

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.