The Bosphorus or the Istanbul Strait, is a strait connecting the Black Sea and the Sea of ​​Marmara, and the Dardanelles Strait is considered the southern border between Asia and Europe, and its length is 30 km, and its width varies between (550 and 3000 meters).

The waters of the Bosphorus Strait are classified within the field of international navigation, and the movement of ships in the strait is one of the most important points of maritime navigation in the world, as the number of ships passing through the strait in 2003 reached about 47,000 ships, including more than 8000 ships carrying dangerous materials (liquefied gas, oil … etc.). In 2004, the number of ships passing through the strait increased, and their number reached more than 53,000 ships.

The strait penetrates dangerous water currents, and the narrowness of the strait in some areas makes navigation difficult, and there have been many serious accidents, including the collision of two oil-laden ships on March 13, 1994, which led to the death of 25 sailors, and on July 15, 2005, a Panamanian ship sank in the strait in ambiguous circumstances.

The Bosphorus Bridges

This strait is crossed by two bridges, the Bosphorus Bridge and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge. In 2016, the Sultan Selim I Bridge or Istanbul Third Bridge was completed. On October 29, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan inaugurated the Marmaray Tunnel in the waters of the Bosphorus, to celebrate the ninetieth anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey.

The history of the Bosporus

The history of the Bosporus strait goes back thousands of years, where cracks and cracks occurred in the fourth geological age, and the strait took its current form about 7500 years ago. He turned his beloved Aibo into the shape of a cow, for fear of his wife’s jealousy, so his wife found out about this, so she put a fly on her, so Aibo fled from her and crossed this strait. That is why he called the Bosphorus of hardship. one (Bosphorus).

Throughout history, there was a problem in the passage of ships from this strait across the two continents, and the first bridge built on the Bosphorus was in the fourth century by the Emperor (Albers Darius), who was at war with the Askini, and crossed his army on boats and wooden boats tied to each other by chains, The total of his army was seven hundred thousand fighters, then the area changed over time and became a commercial area after the development of maritime trade, and the Byzantines built their castles and summer palaces there on the banks of the Bosphorus, and the Ottomans also built forts, castles, picnic gardens and so on.