Bohai Sea

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bohai Sea (Chinese: 渤海; pinyin: Bó Hăi), also known as Bohai Bay or Bohai Gulf, is the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea on the coast of northeastern China. It is approximately 823,000 km², and its proximity to Beijing, the capital of China, make it one of the busiest seaways in the world.

In recent decades, petroleum and natural gas deposits have been discovered in Bohai.

[edit] Geography

The gulf is formed by the Liaodong Peninsula to the northeast and the Shandong Peninsula to the south. Bo Hai consists of three bays: Laizhou Bay to the south, Liaodong Bay to the north, and Bohai Bay to the west. The rivers Huang He, Liao He, Hai He and Luan River empty into Bo Hai.

Bo Hai borders the Chinese provinces of Shandong, Liaoning, and Hebei, and Tianjin municipality. Port cities on Bo Hai coast include:

Hebei: Qinhuangdao
Liaoning: Dalian, Huludao, Jinzhou, Yingkou
Shandong: Longkou, Weihai, Yantai
Tianjin: Tanggu

Islands include:

Zhifu Island, part of Yantai City, Shandong Province

[edit] History

In literature until the early 20th century, Bo Hai was sometimes called Gulf of Chihli (直隸 Zhílì) or the Gulf of Pechihli (北直隸 Běizhílì). Zhili and Beizhili were old names for the contemporary Chinese province of Hebei.