or Gulf of Venice, the Adriaticum Mare of the ancients, is an arm of the Mediterranean which separates Italy from Illyria, Croatia, Dalmatia, and Albania. It extends from N. Lat. 40. to 45. 50. in a N.W. direction. Its western or Italian coasts are generally low and deficient in harbours; but the eastern shores are steep, rocky, and abounding in creeks and inlets, forming numerous islands. The prevalence of sudden squalls from the N.E., and sometimes from the S.E., renders its navigation hazardous. Its ebbs and flows are inconsiderable, but more observable than in the Mediterranean generally; and its saltness is a little greater than that of the ocean. The Adriatic receives no considerable rivers, except the Po, Adige, and Narenta. Its chief emporia of trade are Venice, Trieste, and Ancona. The ancients seem to have originally applied the name of Adriaticum to that part of the sea which is in the vicinity of Adria, or to the northern part of the modern Adriatic; but in its extended signification it corresponded to the modern sea, and sometimes even included that part of the Mediterranean which lies between Sicily and Crete. There is no doubt that its name is derived from the town of Adria, which was situate on its coast, between the mouths of the Po and Adige, and not from Adria in Picenum as some writers have supposed.—See Livy, Pliny, Strabo, &c.