The
Sea of Marmara (, ), also known as the
Sea of Marmora or the
Marmara Sea, and in the context of
classical antiquity as the
Propontis , is the
inland sea, entirely within the borders of
Turkey, that connects the
Black Sea to the
Aegean Sea, thus separating Turkey's
Asian and
European parts. The
Bosphorus strait connects it to the Black Sea and the
Dardanelles strait to the Aegean. The former also separates
Istanbul into its Asian and European sides. The sea has an area of 11,350 km² (280 km x 80 km) with the greatest depth reaching .