Adriatic Sea Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the northwest and the Po Valley. The countries with coasts on the Adriatic are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Italy, Montenegro and Slovenia. The Adriatic contains over 1,300 islands, mostly located along its eastern, Croatian coast. It is divided into three basins, the northern being the shallowest and the southern being the deepest, with a maximum depth of
Ligurian (Romance language) Cavalli. Ligurian does not enjoy an official status in Italy. Hence, it is not protected by law. Historically, Genoese (the dialect spoken in the city of Genoa) is the written "koine", owing to its semi-official role as language of the Republic of Genoa, its traditional importance in trade and commerce and its vast literature. Like other regional languages in Italy, the use of Ligurian and its dialects is in rapid decline. ISTAT (the Italian central service of statistics) claims that in 2012, only 9% of the population used other than standard Italian with friends and family, which decreases to 1.8%