A small inland sea entirely within Turkey, linking the Black Sea to the Aegean and dividing Europe from Asia.
Area
11,350 km²
Ocean basin
Atlantic
Location
The small sea that splits a continent
Average depth
about 490 m
Maximum depth
about 1,370 m
Salinity
~22 ppt (brackish surface)
Temperature
Mild, 8–26°C
Region
North-western Turkey
About the Sea of Marmara
The Sea of Marmara lies wholly within Turkey, connected to the Black Sea by the Bosphorus at Istanbul and to the Aegean by the Dardanelles. Fresher water flows out across its surface while saltier Mediterranean water slides in beneath — a two-layer sea. It has been a strategic crossroads between continents for millennia.
Did you know?
It joins the Black Sea to the Mediterranean through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles — the narrow straits that separate Europe from Asia.
Highlights
- Links the Black Sea to the Mediterranean
- Splits Europe from Asia at Istanbul
- A two-layered sea of fresh over salt
Photo gallery
Life in the Sea of Marmara
Creatures, seabirds and marine plants — including some of the rarest and strangest — that live in these waters.
Creatures of the deep
Cuttlefish
A master of disguise with W-shaped pupils that flashes rippling colour across its skin.
Moray eel
A reef ambush predator with a hidden second set of jaws in its throat to drag prey down.
Seabirds
Great cormorant
An expert diving seabird that perches with wings spread wide to dry its feathers.
Marine plants & algae
Sea lettuce
A bright-green, paper-thin edible seaweed that drapes rocky shores worldwide.
Surface & deep in the Sea of Marmara
The sea is warm where the Sun reaches it and cold far below. Flip between the sunlit surface and the deep water to feel the difference — these are typical figures for a enclosed sea.
Sunlit surface
24°C
typical surface temperature
Ringed by land, enclosed seas heat up more at the surface and, cut off from the open ocean, their trapped deep water often stays comparatively warm.
Recorded range for the Sea of Marmara: Mild, 8–26°C