Dardanelles

Turkish strait connecting the Sea of Marmara with the Aegean Sea; its shores are formed by the Gallipoli peninsula on the northwest and the mainland of Anatolia on the southeast. It is around 65 km/40 mi long and 1.6–6.4 km/1–4 mi wide. Called Hellespont in ancient times, it was the scene of the legend of Hero and Leander; its modern name is derived from Dardanus, an ancient Greek city on its Asian shore. Controlling navigation between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, the Dardanelles and the Bosporus straits have long been of immense commercial and strategic importance.

The Dardanelles was the scene of bitter fighting between Allied and Turkish troops during World War I, most notably the operations at Gallipoli 1915.