Taganrog Bay (; ) is the northeastern arm of the

Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov is an inland Continental shelf#Shelf seas, shelf sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, and sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded by Ru ...

. It also may be perceived as a flooded

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...

of the Don River.

Geography

The bay serves as a natural boundary between the Kuban coast line in Russia and the northern Azov littoral region in Ukraine and Russia. At its northeast end is the mouth of the Don River. Length: about , width at the mouth: , median depth: about . It may freeze some winters from December to March. Three other rivers, the Kalmius, Mius and the Yeya, flow into the bay. The flow of water into the bay is the chief factor for current development in the Sea of Azov.

Landforms

Its mouth is marked by the Dolgaya Spit on the south and the on the north. It abounds in sandy spits that partly enclose shallow bays. The bay contains sandy isles. Other major spits: :uk:Крива коса, :uk:Біглицька коса, :uk:Єйська коса. The major ports are

Taganrog Taganrog (, ) is a port city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, on the north shore of Taganrog Bay in the Sea of Azov, several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don (river), Don River. It is in the Black Sea region. Population: Located at the site of a ...

Mariupol Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...

(

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

), and Yeysk.

Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...

is a few miles up the Don river.

Water

The concentration of salt water in the Gulf is uneven. The water in the eastern and shallower part of the bay, which receives water from the Don River, is mostly desalinized. The western end of the bay is completely salt water. Besides Don, the bay receives waters of Kalmius, Mius (with its prominent ('' liman'')), and Yeya rivers.

References

{{coord, 46.9859, N, 38.4494, E, source:kolossus-frwiki_scale:1000000, display=title Bays of the Sea of Azov Bays of Ukraine Russia–Ukraine border Bays of Krasnodar Krai Bodies of water of Rostov Oblast Don basin

Geography

Landforms

Water

See also

References