By zdn
Published: October 21, 2011
Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea Wiki
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges. The Adriatic Sea is a northwest-to-southeast arm of the Mediterranean Sea.
The western coast is Italian, while the eastern coast runs along Slovenia (47 km), Croatia (5,835 km) , Bosnia and Herzegovina (26 km), Montenegro (294 km), and Albania (295 km). Major rivers joining the Adriatic are the Reno, Po, Adige/Etsch, Brenta, Piave, Soča/Isonzo, Zrmanja, Krka, Cetina, Neretva, and Drin (Drini).
Adriatic Sea map
Adriatic Coasts and islands
The west shore is generally low, merging, in the northwest, into the marshes and lagoons on either hand of the protruding delta of the river Po, the sediment of which has pushed forward the coastline for several miles within historic times-Adria is now some distance from the shore. There are stretches of rocky coast at the Mount Conero and at Gargano.
On islands within one of the lagoons opening from the Gulf of Venice, Venice has its unique situation. Other notable cities on the Italian coast are Trieste, Ravenna, Rimini, Ancona, Pescara, Bari, and Brindisi.
The east coast is generally bold and rocky, with many islands. South of the Istrian Peninsula, which separates the Gulfs of Venice and Trieste from the Bay of Kvarner, the island-fringe of the east coast extends as far south as Dubrovnik. The island of Cres is the largest island in the sea, slightly larger than nearby Krk.
The islands, which are long and narrow (the long axis lying parallel with the coast of the mainland), rise rather abruptly to elevations of a few hundred feet, with the exception of a few larger islands like Brač (Vidova gora, 778 m) or the peninsula Pelješac (St. Ilija, 961 m). There are 1246 islands in the Adriatic, 66 of which are inhabited.
On the mainland, notably in the Gulf of Kotor (Boka Kotorska; named after the town of Kotor), lofty mountains often fall directly to the sea.
The prevalent colour of the rocks is a light, dead grey, contrasting harshly with the dark vegetation, which on some of the islands is luxuriant. In fact, Montenegro (Black Mountain) was named after the black pines that cover the coast there, and similarly the Greek name for the island of Korčula is Korkyra Melaina meaning "Black Corfu".
There is a notable difference between the Italian and Croatian coasts on the Adriatic: although only a small distance from each other, the Croatian Coast and beaches are generally many times clearer, and bluer than Italian. Croatia is known for its crystal clear water. Italian Adriatic is greener and less clear because richer in plankton.
Major cities on the eastern coast include Trieste in Italy; Koper, Izola and Piran in Slovenia; Umag, Poreč, Rovinj, Pula, Opatija, Rijeka, Senj, Zadar, Biograd, Šibenik, Trogir, Split, Makarska, Ploče and Dubrovnik in Croatia; Neum in Bosnia and Herzegovina; Herceg Novi, Kotor, Tivat, Bar, Budva and Ulcinj in Montenegro; Lezhë, Durrës, Velipoja and Vlorë in Albania.
Adriatic Sea is a great place for travel, tours and sea cruises. With amazing Adriatic sea resorts offering exellent place for vacation it is first choise holiday.
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