The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia . It lies to the east of the Balkans in Southeast Europe , south of the East European Plain in Eastern Europe ; and north of Anatolia and west of the Caucasus , both in Western Asia . The Black Sea is supplied by major rivers, principally the Danube , Dnieper , and Don . Consequently, while six countries have a coastline on the sea itself, its drainage basin includes parts of 24 countries across Europe. [2] The Black Sea covers 436,400 km 2 (168,500 sq mi) (not including the Sea of Azov ), has a maximum depth of 2,212 m (7,257 ft), and a volume of 547,000 km 3 (131,000 cu mi). [5] Most of its coasts ascend rapidly. These rises are the Pontic Mountains to the south, bar the southwest-facing peninsulas, the Caucasus Mountains to the east, and the Crimean Mountains to the mid-north. In the west the coast is generally small floodplains below foothills