The Malian or Maliac Gulf ( el, Μαλιακός Κόλπος, Maliakós Kólpos) is a gulf in the western

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans an ...

. It forms part of the coastline of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

's region of

Phthiotis Phthiotis ( el, Φθιώτιδα, ''Fthiótida'', ; ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Φθιῶτις) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. The capital is the city of Lamia. It is borde ...

. The gulf stretches east to west to a distance of , depending on the definition, and is very shallow, with a maximum depth of . The only harbour is that of Stylida, which serves the city of

Lamia LaMia Corporation S.R.L., operating as LaMia (short for ''Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación''), was a Bolivian charter airline headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as an EcoJet subsidiary. It had its origins from the failed ...

. To its east is Cape Lichada, the northwesternmost point of the island of

Euboea Evia (, ; el, Εύβοια ; grc, Εὔβοια ) or Euboia (, ) is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait (only at its narrowest ...

Name

The gulf is named after the ancient Malians who lived on its shores.

History

Due to the constant accretion of silt from the river the Spercheios and smaller streams, the gulf has been shrinking over the centuries. In the summer of 426 BC, a tsunami hit the gulf between the northwest tip of Euboea and Lamia. The ancient strait of

Thermopylae Thermopylae (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: (''Thermopylai'') , Demotic Greek (Greek): , (''Thermopyles'') ; "hot gates") is a place in Greece where a narrow coastal passage existed in antiquity. It derives its name from its hot sulphur ...

, which at the time the famous battle was fought, was delineated by Mount Kallidromo and the Malian Gulf, has now become a broad coastal plain. Under the London Protocol of 1830, the line connecting the Malian Gulf and the Aspropotamos River was established as the northern border of the newly independent Greek state.

References

Gulfs of Greece Landforms of Phthiotis Gulfs of the Aegean Sea Landforms of Central Greece {{CGreece-geo-stub