A narrow strait separating European and Asian Turkey and joining the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. It has been an important trade route since ancient times.
Bosporus
Dictionary:
Bos·po·rus (bŏs'pər-əs)  |
A narrow strait separating European and Asian Turkey and joining the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. It has been an important trade route since ancient times.
| Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Bosporus |
For more information on Bosporus, visit Britannica.com.
| Classical Literature Companion: Bosporus |
Bosporus (‘ox-ford’), sometimes ‘Bosphorus’. 1. The Thracian Bosporus, the strait connecting the Sea of Marmora (Propontis) with the Black Sea, and separating Europe from Asia. According to Greek myth it was here that the heifer
2. The Cimmerian Bosporus, the straits connecting the Black Sea with the Sea of Asov. It also is said to derive its name from a crossing made by Io.
| Columbia Encyclopedia: Bosporus |
Bosporus (bŏs'pərəs) [Gr.,=ox ford, in reference to the story of Io], Turk. Boğaziçi, strait, c.20 mi (30 km) long and c.2,100 ft (640 m) wide at its narrowest, separating European from Asian Turkey and joining the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. Istanbul is on the Bosporus. At its narrowest point stand two famous castles: Anadolu Hisar (1390) on the Asian side and Rumeli Hisar (1452) on the European side. With the Dardanelles, the Bosporus connects the Black Sea with the Mediterranean; it is thought to have been a dry riverbed as recently as 7,600 years ago. The Bosporus Bridge, one of the world's longest suspension bridges (3,524 ft/1,074 m long; opened 1973) spans the strait at Istanbul. A second bridge was completed in 1988.
| Geography: Bosporus |
(bos-puh-ruhs)
Strait separating the European and Asian portions of Turkey. The Bosporus is a link between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
- It is an important shipping route for Russia, whose northern routes are mostly blocked by ice in winter, and for other nations that border the Black Sea or use any of the many major rivers that flow into it.
Learn More
 | Golden Horn (inlet of the Bosporus in northwest Turkey) |
| Istanbul (Geography) |
| poriaz (meteorology) |
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Copyrights:
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Classical Literature Companion. The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Copyright © 1993, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more |
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| Geography. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved. Read more |
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Mentioned in
- Golden Horn (inlet of the Bosporus in northwest Turkey)
- Istanbul (Geography)
- poriaz (meteorology)
- Black Sea
- Propontis
- bosporian
- Marmara, Sea of
- caïque
- Chalcedon (ancient Greek city of northwest Asia Minor)
- Byzantium
- Mediterranean Sea (geography)
- Nicomedia (ancient city of northwest Asia Minor)
- Symplēgadğs
- Year 512 bce (in Science & Technology)
