Geography Quiz: Black Sea Edition

Map of Black Sea (and some other bodies of water -- can you name them?) by Dino Spain on Deviant Art

After reading through the hubristic and misguided Black Sea Strategy paper issued by neo-con think tank The Heritage Foundation, a group of us decided the Pentagon should not send the Coast Guard there until U.S. citizens can find it on a map.

Since this could take a while, we'd better get started.

Map A - This nation, unlike the U.S., actually has an extensive border with the Black Sea.

Map B -  This Black Sea bordering nation is referred to in the quote below from Jim W. Dean and Gordon Duff's March 4, 2022 article "Blackwater Mercenaries: NATO's Secret Weapon in Ukraine War":

The Machiavellian plan of NATO’s military strategists is to establish refugee settlements with the “humanitarian assistance” in the border regions of Ukraine’s neighboring countries.. and then provide guerrilla warfare training and lethal arms to all able-bodied men of military age in order to “bleed Russia’s security forces" in the protracted irregular warfare.

Map C - Like Ukraine, this Black Sea bordering nation has regions where Russia stepped in during 2008 to protect the lives of Russophone citizens under bombardment from their own government. 

Bonus question: What U.S. senator was the first to come to this nation after the events of 2008 to pledge U.S. undying support against Russia?

Map D -  In January 2023, this country's national gas company made a deal with a Turkish energy company to transit 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas each year, about half of the country's annual consumption. The country had become unable or unwilling to continue buying Russian gas because of a requirement to pay in roubles.

Map E - Making a return appearance to my geography quiz series, this NATO nation is so strategically located in controlling maritime access to the Black Sea that it often risks U.S. wrath to cooperate with Russia, and vice versa.

Map F - This country's borders have changed significantly over the course of its civil war, and its short border with the Black Sea continues to grow shorter as it wages war against its Russophone citizens and former citizens.

Maps sourced from Free Country Map except this one, modified from SouthFront

Answer Key

Map A - Russia

Map B - Romania

Map C - Georgia

Map D - Bulgaria

Map E - Turkiye

Map F - Ukraine

Title map - Other bodies of water include the Sea of Azov (upper right of Black Sea), the Sea of Marmara (below the Black Sea), and the Mediterranean Sea (eastern tip at far left under the Black Sea)

Bonus question: Senator Joe Biden of Delaware