Strait of Bonifacio

Strait of Bonifacio

The Strait of Bonifacio ("Bonifaccio" is an older spelling from circa 1861) is the strait between Corsica and Sardinia, named after the Corsican town Bonifacio. It is about 7 miles (11 km) wide and divides the Tyrrhenian Sea from the western Mediterranean Sea. The strait is notorious among sailors for its weather, currents, shoals, and other obstacles. The most famous disaster in the Strait of Bonifacio was that of the French frigate "Sémillante" on February 15, 1855. The ship had left the port of Toulon the day before on its way into the Black Sea to supply the Crimean War with troops. A storm caused it to hit a reef; the ship sank and none of the 750 soldiers on board survived. Since a tanker disaster in 1993, the passage through the Strait of Bonifacio has been prohibited for only French and Italian flag ships with dangerous goods.

References

*German|Straße von Bonifacio|August 17, 2006

ee also

* Lavezzi Islands
* Cavallo (island)


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Strait of Bonifacio — noun A strait between Corsica and Sardinia, connecting the Tyrrhenian Sea and the western Mediterranean Sea …   Wiktionary

  • Bonifacio — French commune nomcommune=Bonifacio native name=Bunifaziu caption=The harbor city motto=Libertas région=Corsica département=Corse du Sud arrondissement=Sartène canton=Bonifacio insee=2A041 cp= 20169 time zone=GMT+1 gentilé=bonifaciens,… …   Wikipedia

  • Bonifacio — ▪ France       town, Corse du Sud département, Corse ( Corsica) région, France, just west of Cap Pertusato, southernmost point of the island of Corsica, giving its name to the strait (7.5 miles [12 km] wide) separating Corsica from the northern… …   Universalium

  • Defensive Organization of Corsica — The Defensive Organization of Corsica (Organization Défensive de la Corse) was the French military organization that in 1940 was responsible for the defense of the French island of Corsica against a potential invasion by Fascist Italy. As part of …   Wikipedia

  • Prehistory of Corsica — The prehistory of Corsica is analogous to the prehistories of the other islands in the Mediterranean Sea, such as Sicily, Sardinia and Cyprus, which could only be accessed by boat and featured cultures that were to some degree insular; that is,… …   Wikipedia

  • Tyrrhenian Sea — Tyrrhenian Sea. The Tyrrhenian Sea (Corsican: Mari Tirrenu, French: Mer Tyrrhénienne, Italian: Mare Tirreno, Neapolitan: Mar Tirreno, Sardinian …   Wikipedia

  • List of straits — This List of straits is an appendix to the article strait . See also: A* Agate Pass Puget Sound * Agattu Strait Aleutians * Akashi Strait Japan * Amchitka Pass Aleutians * Anegada Passage Virgin Islands and Anguilla * Arthur Kill Staten Island… …   Wikipedia

  • Mediterranean Sea — Mediterranean redirects here. For other uses, see Mediterranean (disambiguation). Mediterranean sea redirects here. For the oceanographical term, see Mediterranean sea (oceanography). Mediterranean Sea Composite satellite ima …   Wikipedia

  • List of shipwrecks — Contents 1 Africa 1.1 East Africa 1.2 North Africa 1.2.1 Algeria …   Wikipedia

  • List of maritime boundary treaties — The list of maritime boundary treaties, also known as maritime delimitation treaties, are bilateral or multinational expressions of specific mutual obligations. These are also called maritime boundary agreements or maritime delimitation… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”