This article is about the strait in Turkey. For the strait in Russia, see Eastern Bosphorus.

For
the surrounding neighbourhoods of Istanbul, see Boazii. For the university in Turkey, see
Boazii University. For the ancient Hellenic state, see Bosporan Kingdom.

Satellite image of the Bosphorus strait, taken from the ISS in April 2004.

Aerial view of the Bosphorus strait from north (bottom) to south (top), with the city center of
Istanbul at the southern end.
The Bosphorus (/bsfrs/) or Bosporus (/bsprs/; Ancient Greek: , Bsporos;
Turkish: Boazii) is a strait that forms part of the boundary between Europe and Asia. The
Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles strait to the southwest together form the
Turkish Straits. The world's narrowest strait used for international navigation, the Bosporus
connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara (which is connected by the Dardanelles to
the Aegean Sea, and thereby to the Mediterranean Sea.)
The limits of the Bosporus are defined as the connecting line between the lighthouses Rumeli
Feneri and Anadolu Feneri in the north and between the Ahrkap Feneri and the Kadky
nciburnu Feneri in the south. Between the limits, the strait is 31 km (17 nmi) long, with a
width of 3,329 m (1.798 nmi) at the northern entrance and 2,826 m (1.526 nmi) at the
southern entrance. Its maximum width is 3,420 m (1.85 nmi) between Umuryeri and
Bykdere Liman, and minimum width 700 m (0.38 nmi) between Kandilli Point and
Aiyan.

The depth of the Bosporus varies from 13 to 110 m (43 to 361 ft) in midstream with an
average of 65 m (213 ft). The deepest location is between Kandilli and Bebek with 110 m
(360 ft). The most shallow locations are off Kadky nciburnu on the northward route with
18 m (59 ft) and off Aiyan Point on the southward route with 13 m (43 ft).[1] The Golden
Horn is an estuary off the main straits that acted as a moat to protect Old Istanbul from attack,
as well as providing a sheltered anchorage for the imperial navy until the 19th century.
Most of the shores of the strait are heavily populated, straddled as it is by the city of Istanbul
(with a metropolitan area population in excess of 12 million inhabitants) which extends
inland from both coasts.
It has been known since before the 20th century that the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara
flow into each other in an example of a density flow and in August 2010 a continuous
'underwater channel' of suspension composition was discovered to flow along the floor of the
Bosporus which would be the sixth largest river on Earth if it were to be on land. The study
of the water and wind erosion of the straits relates to that of its formation. Sections of the
shore have been reinforced with concrete or rubble and sections of the strait prone to
deposition are periodically dredged.

Contents

1 Name

2 Formation

3 Ancient Greece, Persia, Rome, the Byzantines and the Ottoman Empire

4 Strategic importance

5 Shipping traffic

6 Crossings

7 Submarine channel

8 Sightseeing

9 Image gallery

10 See also

11 Notes

12 External links

Name

The Bosporus is also known as "Strait of Constantinople", or as "Istanbul Strait" (Turkish:

stanbul Boaz). To distinguish it from the Cimmerian Bosporus, it was anciently known as
the Thracian Bosporus (Herodotus 4.83; Bosporus Thracius, Bosporus Thraciae ,
, also Chalcedonian Bosporus, Bosporus Chalcedoniae, Bosporos tes Khalkedonies,
Herodotus 4.87, or Mysian Bosporus, Bosporus Mysius).[2] The term could also be used as
common noun , meaning "a strait", and was also applied to the Hellespont in
Classical Greek (Aeschylus, Sophocles).