Definition of North sea

The North Sea is marginal, epeiric sea of the Atlantic Ocean on the European continental shelf between Norway and Denmark in the east, Scotland and England in the west, and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France in the south. The North Sea is over 600 miles long and 350 miles wide, and has an area of around 222,000 square miles. Many of the important rivers of Europe drain into the North Sea and it serves as the only drainage for the Baltic Sea as well, through the Skagerrak and the Kattegat, between Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. In the south, the North Sea connects with the rest of the Atlantic through the Strait of Dover into the English Channel and in the north through the Norwegian Sea. The North Sea has long been one of the important commercial highways of the world, as well as a source for valuable resources for border countries, but also a source of concern about the environmental effects of this economic bounty.