This is an old revision of this page, as edited by The Epopt (talk | contribs) at 16:05, 25 December 2001. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 16:05, 25 December 2001 by The Epopt (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Black Sea is an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor. It is connected to the Mediterranean Sea by the Bosporus and the Sea of Marmara.
The Black Sea region is thought to have been the original homeland of "Proto-Indo-European", the progenitor of the Indo-European language, family by some scholars. Others move the heartland further east towards the Caspian Sea.
In 1997, William Ryan and colleagues from Columbia University published evidence that a massive flood through the Bosporus occurred about 5600 BC. They wrote: "Ten cubic miles of water poured through each day, two hundred times what flows over Niagara Falls. ... The Bosporus flume roared and surged at full spate for at least three hundred days." The event flooded 60,000 square miles of land, and significantly expanded the Black Sea shoreline to the north and east. The Black Sea's water level raised many hundreds of feet, and it was transformed from a fresh-water landlocked lake into a salt water sea connected to the ocean. It has been popularly suggested that this event was the source of the legend for Noah's Flood. Forcing a match requires considerable license must be taken with the Biblical story, however.
Countries bordering on the Black Sea are Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia and Georgia.
The most important cities along the coast are: Istanbul (formerly Constantinople and Byzantium) -- Burgas -- Varna -- Odessa -- Sevastopol