The Ligurian Sea is an arm of the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

. It lies between the Italian Riviera ( Liguria) and the island of

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

. The sea is thought to have been named after the ancient Ligures people.

Geography

The sea borders

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

as far as its border with

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and the French island of

. In the east, the sea borders the

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (, ; or ) , , , , is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenians, Tyrrhenian people identified with the Etruscans of Italy. Geography The sea is bounded by the islands of C ...

, while in the west it borders the Mediterranean Sea proper.

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

is the most prominent city in the area. The northwest coast is noted for its scenery and climate. The Gulf of Genoa is its northernmost part. The ports of Genoa and La Spezia are on its rocky coast. It reaches a maximum depth of more than northwest of Corsica. According to a 1983 study, since 1977 a series of experimental analyses on sea-level variations at Genoa and Imperia highlighted "the existence of a seiche wave with a

mean A mean is a quantity representing the "center" of a collection of numbers and is intermediate to the extreme values of the set of numbers. There are several kinds of means (or "measures of central tendency") in mathematics, especially in statist ...

period of 5.8 hours", whose reasons weren't yet explained at that time. The Ligurian Sea was modeled as a rectangular semi-closed basin with a longitudinal length of and a transversal one of , in an average constant depth of .

Extent

The

International Hydrographic Organization The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) (French: ''Organisation Hydrographique Internationale'') is an intergovernmental organization representing hydrography. the IHO comprised 102 member states. A principal aim of the IHO is to ...

defines the limits of the Ligurian Sea as follows:

''On the Southwest.'' A line joining Cape Corse (Cape Grosso, 9°23′E) the Northern point of Corsica to the frontier between France and Italy (7°31′E). ''On the Southeast.'' A line joining Cape Corse with Tinetto Island () and thence through Tino and Palmaria Islands to San Pietro Point () on the Coast of Italy. ''On the North'' The Ligurian Coast of Italy.

Flowings

The Ligurian Sea is traversed by the Modified Atlantic Water (MAW) on its surface and by the Levantine Intermediate Water in depth. It is also brushed by the two main currents which surround the

island: the Western Corsica Current and the Tyrrenian current that reaches the Corsica Channel. At the introductory paragraph.

Conservation

In order to provide protection for the numerous

cetacean Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively c ...

( whales and dolphins; porpoises are not found in this part of the Mediterranean Sea) species in the Ligurian Sea the bordering countries established the sea as a SPAMI in 1999. The International Ligurian Sea Cetacean Sanctuary now covers covering territorial waters as well as high sea.

Image gallery

File:Corse-04628-Macinaggio-baie.jpg, Rogliano File:Pietracorbara Marine.jpg, Pietracorbara File:Trota Caput.JPG, Portovenere File:Drop the Gulf.JPG, Palmaria File:Panorama di La Spezia 08.jpg, La Spezia File:Vernazza view 2.jpg, Vernazza File:Corniglia FB02.JPG, Corniglia File:Monterosso al Mare-panorama-convento dei cappuccini2-flickr.jpg, Monterosso al Mare File:Liguria 5Terre3 tango7174.jpg, Riomaggiore File:Italy.Cinque.Terre.Manarola.2.jpg, Manarola File:Sori-panorama8.JPG, Sori File:Porto Genova 0038.JPG,

File:Fortezza del Priamar dalle alture Savonesi.JPG, Savona File:Ceriale DSCF4261.JPG, Ceriale File:Alassio from Capo Mele.jpg, Alassio File:Laigueglia05.jpg, Laigueglia File:Imperia Porto Maurizio BMK.jpg,

Imperia Imperia (; or ) is a coastal city and ''comune'' in the Regions of Italy, region of Liguria, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Imperia, and historically it was capital of the ''Intemelia'' district of Liguria. Benito Mussolini create ...

File:San Remo Harbour in May 2008.JPG, Sanremo File:La piana di latte.jpg, Ventimiglia

References

{{Authority control Marginal seas of the Mediterranean European seas Seas of Italy Landforms of Corsica Landforms of Liguria Geography of Europe France–Italy border