File talk:Adriatic Sea in its region (IHO 1953).svg

Southern Boundary is wrong

In all definitions, the en:Strait of Otranto (en:Otranto – en:Cape of Gjuhëz) is the Southern boundary of the Adriatic Sea, not a virtual line from the Southern tip of Puglia (Punta Ristola) to the North end of en:Corfu, cutting the en:Ionian Sea into pieces.

This map should be adapted accordingly. --Albinfo (talk) 14:53, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

Thanks very much for your comment and for reviewing the map. However, checking again the IHO's "Limits of Oceans and Seas" Draft 3rd Edition, 1953 (archived here or mirrored here) which I was aiming to follow:

(g) Adriatic Sea. On the South. A line running from the mouth of the Butrinto River (39°44' N) in Albania to Cape Karagol in Corfu, through this island to Cape Kephali (these two capes are in lat. 39°45' N) and on to Cape Santa Maria di Leuca.

I think that the southern limit is correct — the limit should be going through the northern edge of Corfu. However, with hindsight, given the controversy regarding the northern limit of the Ionian Sea, it might have made sense to name this file "Adriatic Sea in its region (IHO 1953).svg" or something to that effect. AFAIU the file could, with some trouble, still be renamed. Do you think it would make sense? Aplaice (talk) 07:36, 3 August 2021 (UTC)

Thank you for sharing. Never seen that definition before. All articles about the en:Adriatic Sea mention the Strait of Otranto as Southern border. Everybody (especially scientific literature) says that Corfu or the Southern Albanian coast are at the shores of the Ionian Sea. And also the name Butrinto River is really old fashioned.

It seems like the "traditional boundaries" are also those accepted today. Books like "The Maritime Boundaries of the Adriatic Sea" from 1996 clearly follow the traditional boundary. They don't mention Greece as neighbouring state – Butrint or Corfu are not mentioned in the book. Also Physical Oceanography of the Adriatic Sea, published in 2013, sees the Southern end at the Strait of Otranto (second text page). Nobody talks about the deep waters off the Southern Albanian coast/North of Corfu.

Bearing that in mind, you should clearly mention that the boundary in your map is according to the IHO. No idea why the IHO has defined the boundary like that when all sientists and all traditional definitions end much further North. --Albinfo (talk) 10:08, 3 August 2021 (UTC)

I don't know why the IHO used that definition, but I'll stick to it for consistency. FWIW in the IHO's 2002 draft (that was never officially published, I think due to conflict regarding the naming of the Sea of Japan) (archived here and available as a single PDF here), they kept their 1953 definition. I had already mentioned the source of the definition in the description, and I've now also asked for a file rename to "Adriatic Sea in its region (IHO 1953)". I hope that'll be sufficient to avoid confusion. Aplaice (talk) 11:54, 3 August 2021 (UTC)

Thanks again! Just checked some more literature from the Albanian Academy of Sciences (1990): they clearly defined the en:Cape of Gjuhëz as the Southern point of the Adriatic Sea on its Eastern coast.

As I have never seen another definition, I was slightly confused. --Albinfo (talk) 19:09, 3 August 2021 (UTC)