The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean Sea region of the Mediterranean. These waters separate eastern Europe and western Asia. The Black Sea is also connected to the Sea of Azov by the Strait of Kerch.
The Black Sea has an area of 436,400 km2 (168,500 sq mi) (not including the Sea of Azov), a maximum depth of 2,212 m (7,257 ft), and a volume of 547,000 km3 (131,200 cu mi). The Black Sea forms in an east-west trending elliptical depression which lies between Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. It is constrained by the Pontic Mountains to the south, the Caucasus Mountains to the east and features a wide shelf to the northwest. The longest east-west extent is about 1,175 km.
Important cities along the coast include Batumi, Burgas, Constanța, Giresun, Hopa, Istanbul, Kerch, Kherson, Mangalia, Năvodari, Novorossiysk, Odessa, Ordu, Poti, Rize, Samsun, Sevastopol, Sochi, Sukhumi, Trabzon, Varna, Yalta and Zonguldak.
Mark Kermode (born 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, musician and a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He contributes to Sight and Sound magazine, The Observer newspaper and BBC Radio 5 Live, where he presents Kermode and Mayo's Film Reviews with Simon Mayo on Friday afternoons. He also co-presents the BBC Two arts programme The Culture Show and discusses other branches of the arts for the BBC Two programme Newsnight Review. Kermode writes and presents a film-related video blog for the BBC.
Kermode, born Mark Fairey in Barnet, North London, England, attended Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, an independent boys' school in Elstree, a few years ahead of comedians Sacha Baron Cohen, Matt Lucas and David Baddiel and in the same year as actor Jason Isaacs. He was raised as a Methodist, and is now a member of the Church of England.
Mark Fairey's parents divorced when he was in his early 20s and he subsequently changed his surname to his GP mother's maiden name by deed poll. (Neither of them is related to the literary critic Frank Kermode.)
Is it you? [x3]
I guess you always
Wanted freedom
No guarantees
In the western world
Love forsaken
My heart is aching
You turned to east
To find your peace
(My everlasting dream)
[Chorus]
Black Sea, what do I see?
This glimmer on the ocean, (is it you?)
Black sea for you and me
So close but far away
Na, na, na, na – Can there be a chance?
Na, na, na, na – For you and me
Na, na, na, na – Feel my humble stance
You’re my swedish complete taboo
(My everlasting dream)
My enigma is
Keeping our secret
Cross my heart
And hope to die
Dream dynamic
So panoramic
When yearning wail
My endless tale
(My everlasting dream)
[Chorus]
I guess you always
Wanted freedom
No guarantees
In the Western World
Love forsaken
My heart is aching
You turned to east
To find your peace
I hear waves are roaring in
Birds are crying loud
My adoring sin
I’m standing here so proud
Why?
[Chorus]
Black Sea, what do I see?
This glimmer on the ocean, (is it you?)
Black sea for you and me
You’re my swedish complete taboo
Now, friends, I know you read about it in the papers
Or perhaps you saw the pictures on TV
How the tanker cracked and the sea turned black
But it's time for some compassion, don't you see
Hell, the shipping lane was only 10 miles wide
You fishermen, you ought to understand
And when the captain asked for "one on the rocks"
Well, the third mate followed his command
And we'll change the name to "The Black Sea"
We'll make it all a tourist spot
And when we're done we'll give it back to the people of
Alaska
Just to show what man hath wrought
And we'll pass along the cost to the ones who've lost
'Cause you know it's the American Way
Erect a neon sign for the rest of time:
"Brought to you by Exxon-USA"
Now the government, it was quick on its feet
No, they didn't leave a single thing to chance
But when it came to pressuring a corporate giant
Don't you know they did a brand new dance
"I know you got your birds and your mammals and your
fishing and your fam'lies
So I hope you'll understand the brief delay"
But you can bet if this had happened off of
Kennebunkport
They'd have cleaned it up the very same day
And we could call it "Spill of Fortune"
Maybe you could buy a fowl
Exxon pulls the strings and the government sings
Throws up its hand and throws in the towel
And if we can get the clearance a special appearance
Is scheduled by the IRS
With a mop and a rake and a big tax break
'Cause they're used to working in an awful mess
Now I don't claim to have any answers
But you know that I've got questions by the score
Like, who has the power and who has the name
Who has the right and who has the blame
And who has the lawyers and who has the tax breaks
Who has the damage control
Who has the home and who has the future
Who has the troubled soul?
So you can skim off the oil as you skim off the profits
But you'll only skim the surface of the crime
And when you drive to the pump watch the gas price jump
And I think you'll understand it all in time
Why up in the land of the midnight sun
You know, we're really in an awful fix
Seems corporate profits and the public good
Like oil and water, don't mix
And we could call it "I've Got a Secret"
And everyone could guess what's being done
Or maybe we could call it "To Tell the Truth"
Now wouldn't that be a lot of fun?
But it's more like "Good Morning America"
And everyone is waking up to find
That feather and fin and fur and skin
We're all judged by the bottom line
But, side by side, we're gonna turn that tide