The History of Research Conducted in the Black Sea

Abstract

From early antiquity, the Black Sea coast’s natives, Phoenicians, Greeks, and later, Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans, Vikings, Venetians, Genoese sailors, and others undertook expeditions along the coasts and of the Black Sea for exploration and commercial and military purposes. The systematic exploration of the Black Sea area begins in the nineteenth century and continued in force in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Today in the Black Sea, there are many international and national institutions whose main responsibilities are scientific research on geology, mineral, energy, and living resources, as well as their exploitation possibilities, navigation, seaborne trade, economy, politics, and geopolitics, ecology, archeology, and so on. For these, considerable financial, material, and human resources are allocated, national and international scientific and economic research programs have been and are being carried out, in which numerous research vessels, and an increasing number of researchers participate annually. It can be said that the interest in Black Sea research is special and growing, both for the coastal states and for the international scientific, political, and economic environment.