This route separates Asia from Europe continents, joining Black sea with Mediterranean Sea. When we look at the historical background of the region, as the important gateway to two worlds and three seas, Marmara region have been fought over for longer than any other waterway in history, in conflicts stretching as far back as the Trojan War in 1200 B.C. Over the centuries, the straits -once popular fishing and swimming areas but now filthy and virtually dead- have been controlled by, among others, Greeks, Persians, Romans, Byzantines and Ottoman Turks. Later on, under the Treaty of Montreux, Turkey regained sovereignty over the waterway. .
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ECONOMICAL STUDY:.
It's time for the economical importance of the straits to Turkey and other countries. All the maritime traffic of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania and Georgia, which have coasts around the Black Sea, is conducted through this route and the maritime economy is very important for these countries. The oil need table shows the oil need of these countries shows the economical importance of the straits only in the oil industry. .
Oil Needs of the Black Sea States .
Country Consumption Production Imports Refining Capacity.
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Bulgaria 109 1 108 300.
Georgia 21 2 19 109 .
Moldova 20 0 20 0.
Romania 275 140 135 522.
Turkey 626 69 557 691.
Ukraine 357 82 275 1,109.
TOTAL 1,408 294 1,114 2,659.
The increasing populations and the industries of these countries, increases the demands and supplies of these countries in oil and other industrial necessity production, consumption, import and exports. As a result of these increases, the maritime traffic increases to a high density and becomes a really big danger for the Bosphorus. Three times as much maritime traffic passes through this route than through the Suez Canal. With this traffic density, the Bosphoros is the world's busiest waterway. 45,000 vessels annually pass between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmora each way which means one vessel every 12 minutes pass through them.
