Adriatic Sea

The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges. The Adriatic Sea is a part of the Mediterranean Sea.

The western coast is Italian, while the eastern coast runs mostly along Croatia, but lesser parts belong to Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Albania. Major rivers joining the Adriatic are the Reno, Po, Adige, Brenta, Piave, Isonzo (Soča), Neretva.

Name and etymology

The name has existed since antiquity; in the Latin of the Romans (Ancient Latin) it was Mare Superum; in medieval Latin it was Mare Hadriaticum or Mare Adriaticum. The name, derived from the Etruscan colony of Adria (or Hadria), originally designated only to the upper portion of the sea (Herodotus vi. 127, vii. 20, ix. 92; Euripides, Hippolytus, 736), but was gradually extended as the Syracusan colonies gained in importance. The word Adria probably derives from the Illyrian word adur meaning "water" or "sea".

But even then the Adriatic in the narrower sense only extended as far as the Monte Gargano, the outer portion being called the Ionian Sea: the name was sometimes, however, inaccurately used to include the Gulf of Tarentum (the modern-day Gulf of Taranto), the Sea of Sicily, the Gulf of Corinth and even the sea between Crete and Malta (Acts xxvii. 27).

The Adriatic Sea is situated largely between the eastern coast of Italy and Croatia, both major tourist attractions. It was used by the ancient Romans to transport goods (including animals and slaves) to Ostia (the Roman port).