The Ligurian Sea ( it, Mar Ligure; french: Mer Ligurienne; lij, Mâ Ligure) is an arm of the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. It lies between the

Italian Riviera The Italian Riviera or Ligurian Riviera ( it, Riviera ligure; lij, Rivêa lìgure) is the narrow coastal strip in Italy which lies between the Ligurian Sea and the mountain chain formed by the Maritime Alps and the Apennines. Longitudinall ...

(

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

) and the island of

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

. The sea is thought to have been named after the ancient

Ligures The Ligures (singular Ligur; Italian: liguri; English: Ligurians) were an ancient people after whom Liguria, a region of present-day north-western Italy, is named. Ancient Liguria corresponded more or less to the current Italian regio ...

people.

Geography

The sea borders

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

as far as its border with

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and the French island of

. In the east, the sea borders the

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (; it, Mar Tirreno , french: Mer Tyrrhénienne , sc, Mare Tirrenu, co, Mari Tirrenu, scn, Mari Tirrenu, nap, Mare Tirreno) is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian pe ...

, while in the west it borders the Mediterranean Sea proper.

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

is the most prominent city in the area. The northwest coast is noted for its scenic beauty and favourable climate. The

Gulf of Genoa The Gulf of Genoa (''Golfo di Genova'') is the northernmost part of the Ligurian Sea. This Italian gulf is about wide from the city of Imperia in the west to La Spezia in the east. The largest city on its coast is Genoa, which has an importan ...

is its northernmost part. The sea receives the

Arno River The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber. Source and route The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a s ...

from the east and many other rivers that originate in the

Apennines The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...

. The ports of Genoa,

La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

, and

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

are on its rocky coast. It reaches a maximum depth of more than northwest of Corsica. According to a 1983 study, since 1977 a series of experimental analyses on sea-level variations at Genoa and Imperia highlighted "the existence of a

seiche A seiche ( ) is a standing wave in an enclosed or partially enclosed body of water. Seiches and seiche-related phenomena have been observed on lakes, reservoirs, swimming pools, bays, harbors, caves and seas. The key requirement for formation o ...

wave with a

mean There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value (magnitude and sign) of a given data set. For a data set, the ''arithme ...

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Era, a length or span of time * Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...

of 5.8 hours", whose reasons weren't yet explained at that time. The Ligurian Sea was modeled as a rectangular semi-closed basin with a longitudinal length of 40 km and a transversal one of 10 km, in an average constant depth of 2000 m.

Extent

The

International Hydrographic Organization The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is an intergovernmental organisation representing hydrography. , the IHO comprised 98 Member States. A principal aim of the IHO is to ensure that the world's seas, oceans and navigable waters a ...

defines the limits of the Ligurian Sea as follows:

''On the Southwest.'' A line joining Cape Corse (Cape Grosso, 9°23′E) the Northern point of Corsica to the frontier between France and Italy (7°31′E). ''On the Southeast.'' A line joining Cape Corse with
Tinetto Tinetto is an Italian island situated in the Gulf of La Spezia, in the eastern part of the Ligurian Sea. It is part of an archipelago of three closely spaced islands jutting out south from the mainland at Portovenere. In 1997, the archipelago, to ...
Island () and thence through Tino and Palmaria Islands to San Pietro Point () on the Coast of Italy. ''On the North'' The
Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...
n Coast of Italy.

Flowings

The Ligurian Sea is attraversed by the Modified Atlantic Water (MAW) on its surface and by the Levantine Intermediate Water in depth. It is also brushed by the two main currents which surround the

island: the Western Corsica Current and the Tyrrenian current that reaches the

Corsica Channel Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

. At the introductory paragraph.

Conservation

In order to provide protection for the numerous

cetacean Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively carnivorous diet. They propel them ...

(

whales Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

and

dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (t ...

;

porpoise Porpoises are a group of fully aquatic marine mammals, all of which are classified under the family Phocoenidae, parvorder Odontoceti (toothed whales). Although similar in appearance to dolphins, they are more closely related to narwhals an ...

s are not found in this part of the Mediterranean Sea) species in the Ligurian Sea the bordering countries established the sea as a SPAMI in 1999. The International Ligurian Sea Cetacean Sanctuary now covers covering

territorial waters The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potenti ...

as well as

high sea The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water (or their drainage basins) transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed region ...

Image gallery

File:Marina di massa, veduta 02.JPG,

Massa Massa may refer to: Places *Massa, Tuscany, the administrative seat of the Italian province of Massa-Carrara. *Massa (river), river in Switzerland * Massa (Tanzanian ward), administrative ward in the Mpwapwa district of the Dodoma Region of Ta ...

File:Livorno-Fortezzanuova3.JPG,

File:Corse-04628-Macinaggio-baie.jpg,

Rogliano Rogliano is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy. It's located in the Savuto Valley. It was mostly destroyed in a violent earthquake in 1638. The town is from Cosenza. Monuments and place ...

File:Pietracorbara Marine.jpg,

Pietracorbara Pietracorbara (; co, A Petra Curbara) is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica. It takes its name from the Pietracorbara stream. Population See also * Tour de Castellare *Communes of the Haute-Corse de ...

File:Trota Caput.JPG,

Portovenere Porto Venere (; until 1991 ''Portovenere''; lij, Pòrtivene) is a town and '' comune'' (municipality) located on the Ligurian coast of Italy in the province of La Spezia. It comprises the three villages of Fezzano, Le Grazie and Porto Venere, ...

File:Drop the Gulf.JPG, Palmaria File:Panorama di La Spezia 08.jpg,

File:Vernazza view 2.jpg,

Vernazza Vernazza ( lij, Vernassa, locally ; la, Vulnetia) is a town and located in the province of La Spezia, Liguria, northwestern Italy. It is one of the five towns that make up the Cinque Terre region. Vernazza is the fourth town heading north, h ...

File:Corniglia FB02.JPG,

Corniglia Corniglia ( lij, Corniggia; locally ) is a ''frazione'' ("hamlet") within the comune of Vernazza in the province of La Spezia, Liguria, northern Italy with a population of about 150 (in 2016). Unlike the other localities of the Cinque Terre, Corn ...

File:Monterosso al Mare-panorama-convento dei cappuccini2-flickr.jpg,

Monterosso al Mare Monterosso al Mare ( lij, Munterussu) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of La Spezia, part of the region of Liguria, Northern Italy. It is one of the five villages in Cinque Terre. Overview Twinned to Saint-Genès-Champanelle, France, M ...

File:Liguria 5Terre3 tango7174.jpg,

Riomaggiore Riomaggiore ( lij, Rimazzô, locally ) is a village and commune in the province of La Spezia, situated in a small valley in the Liguria region of Italy. It is the first of the Cinque Terre one meets when travelling north from La Spezia. Th ...

File:Italy.Cinque.Terre.Manarola.2.jpg,

Manarola Manarola (''Manaea'' in the local dialect) is a small town, a frazione of the comune (municipality) of Riomaggiore, in the province of La Spezia, Liguria, northern Italy. It is the second-smallest of the famous Cinque Terre towns frequented by ...

File:Sori-panorama8.JPG, Sori File:Porto Genova 0038.JPG,

File:Fortezza del Priamar dalle alture Savonesi.JPG,

Savona Savona (; lij, Sann-a ) is a seaport and ''comune'' in the west part of the northern Italy, Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea. Savona used to be one of the chie ...

File:Ceriale DSCF4261.JPG,

Ceriale Ceriale ( lij, O Çejâ, locally ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region of Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about southwest of Savona. Ceriale borders the following municipalities: Albenga ...

File:Alassio from Capo Mele.jpg, Alassio File:Laigueglia05.jpg, Laigueglia File:Imperia Porto Maurizio BMK.jpg,

Imperia Imperia (; lij, Inpêia or ) is a coastal city and ''comune'' in the Regions of Italy, region of Liguria, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Imperia, and historically it was capital of the ''Intemelia'' district of Liguria. Benito Muss ...

File:San Remo Harbour in May 2008.JPG,

Sanremo Sanremo (; lij, Sanrémmo(ro) or , ) or San Remo is a city and comune on the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, in northwestern Italy. Founded in Roman times, it has a population of 55,000, and is known as a tourist destination on the Italian Rivie ...

File:La piana di latte.jpg,

Ventimiglia Ventimiglia (; lij, label=Intemelio, Ventemiglia , lij, label= Genoese, Vintimiggia; french: Vintimille ; oc, label= Provençal, Ventemilha ) is a resort town in the province of Imperia, Liguria, northern Italy. It is located southwest of ...

File:Cannes France.jpg,

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

File:MonacoLibreDeDroits.jpg,

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

File:Antibesbordmer.JPG,

Antibes Antibes (, also , ; oc, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal, Antíbol) is a coastal city in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department of southeastern France, on the French Riviera, Côte d'Azur between Cannes and Nice. The town of ...

References

{{Authority control Marginal seas of the Mediterranean European seas Seas of Italy Seas of France Bodies of water of Monaco Landforms of Corsica Landforms of Liguria Landforms of Tuscany Geography of Western Europe Geography of Southern Europe Borders of Monaco France–Italy border