Sea of Azov

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The Sea of Azov (Template:Lang-ru - Azovskoye more; Template:Lang-uk - Azovs'ke more, Template:Lang-crh) is a northern section of the Black Sea, linked to the larger body through the Strait of Kerch. It is bounded on the north by Ukraine, on the east by Russia and on the west by the Crimean peninsula.

The Black Sea deluge theory dates the genesis of the Sea of Azov to 5600 BC, and there are traces of Neolithic settlement in the area now covered by it. In antiquity, it was known as the Maeotian Lake or Maeotian Sea (Greek Template:Polytonic and Latin Palus Maeotis), after the tribe of Maeotae which inhabited the Maeotian marshes to the east from the sea.

The current name is popularly said to come from a certain Polovtsian prince named Azum or Asuf, who was killed defending a town in this region in 1067. Most scholars derive the name from the city of Azov, or Azak, meaning "low" in Turkish, a reference to its location.

The sea is 340 km long and 135 km wide and has an area of 37,555 km² (14,500 mi²). The main rivers flowing into it are the Don and Kuban; they ensure that the waters of the sea have comparatively low salinity and are almost fresh in places, and also bring in huge volumes of silt. To the west also lie the 110 km Arabat Spit and the highly saline marshy inlets of the Sivash.

The Sea of Azov is the shallowest sea in the world with an average depth of 13 metres and maximum depth of 15.3 metres; where silt has built up, such as the Gulf of Taganrog, the average depth is less than 1 metre. The prevailing current in the sea is a counter-clockwise swirl. In the winter large portions of the sea can be ice-bound.

Significant ports on the sea are Berdyansk, Mariupol, Rostov-na-Donu, Taganrog and Yeysk. Two canals enter the sea — the Volga-Don Canal and a link to the Caspian Sea through the Manych Canal. The sea has a number of significant fisheries and has been exploited for gas and oil extraction.

Historically, the sea has had a rich variety of marine life, with over 80 fish 300 invertebrate species identified. But diversity and numbers have been reduced by over-fishing and increasing levels of pollution.

[edit] Crimean War 1854-56

A naval campaign between the Allied navies of Britain and France against Russia took place in the Sea of Azov between May and November 1855. The British awarded a bar, 'Azoff', to the British Crimean War medal to commemorate the campaign.

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