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Mediterranean Sea

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: General Geography

   Composite satellite image of the Mediterranean Sea.
   Enlarge
   Composite satellite image of the Mediterranean Sea.

   The Mediterranean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean almost completely
   enclosed by land: on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and
   on the east by Asia. It covers an approximate area of 2.5 million  km²
   (965 000 mi²), but its connection to the Atlantic (the Strait of
   Gibraltar) is only 14 km (9 mi) wide. In oceanography, it is sometimes
   called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea or the European Mediterranean
   Sea, to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere.

   It was a superhighway of transport in ancient times, allowing for trade
   and cultural exchange between emergent peoples of the region — the
   Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Semitic, Persian, Phoenician, Carthaginian,
   Greek, Roman and Turkish cultures. The history of the Mediterranean is
   important in understanding the origin and development of Western
   Civilization.

Name

   The term Mediterranean derives from the Latin mediterraneus, 'inland'
   (medius, 'middle' + terra, 'land, earth'), in Greek "mesogeios".

   The Mediterranean Sea has been known by a number of alternative names
   throughout human history. It was, for example, commonly called Mare
   Nostrum (Latin, Our Sea), and occasionally Mare Internum by the Romans.
   ( Sallust, Jug. 17). In the Old Testament, on the west coast of the
   Holy Land, and therefore behind a person facing the east, it is called
   the "Hinder Sea", sometimes translated as "Western Sea", ( Deut. xi.
   24; Joel, ii. 20), and also the "Sea of the Philistines" ( Exod. xxii.
   81), because that people occupied a large portion of its shores near
   the Israelites. Mostly, however, it was the "Great Sea" ( Num. xxxiv.
   6, 7; Josh. i. 4, ix. 1, xv. 47; Ezek. xlvii. 10, 15, 20), or simply
   "The Sea" ( 1 Kings, v. 9; comp. 1 Macc. xiv. 34. xv. 11). In Hebrew,
   it is called "ha-Yam ha-Tikhon" (הַיָּם הַתִּיכוֹן), "the middle sea",
   a literal adaptation of the German equivalent Mittelmeer. In Turkish,
   it is Akdeniz, "the white sea". In Arabic, it is Al-Baħr Al-Abyad
   Al-Muttawasit (البحر الأبيض المتوسط), "the middle white sea".

   Most languages word for the Mediterranean Sea have a name for the sea,
   often a translation of either "middle sea" or "white sea", including:
     * Albanian: Deti Mesdhe
     * Arabic: Al-Baħr Al-Abyadh Al-Muttawasit (البحر الأبيض المتوسط)
     * Armenian: Միջերկրական ծով ("Middle-land sea")
     * Bosnian: Sredozemno more
     * Bulgarian: Средиземно Море
     * Catalan: Mar Mediterrània
     * Chinese: 地中海 ("Land-Middle-Sea")
     * Croatian: Sredozemno more
     * Danish: Middelhavet ("Middle sea")
     * Dutch: Middellandse zee ("Middle-land sea")
     * Estonian: Vahemeri
     * Faroese: Miðjarðarhavið ("Middle-earth sea")
     * Finnish: Välimeri ("The sea in between")
     * French: Mer Méditerranée
     * German: das Mittelmeer ("Middle sea")
     * Greek: Mesogeios Thalassa (Μεσόγειος Θάλασσα)
     * Hebrew: ha-Yam ha-Tikhon (הים התיכון) ["Middle Sea"]
     * Icelandic: Miðjarðarhaf

     * Irish: an Mheánmhuir
     * Italian: Mar(e) Mediterraneo
     * Latin: Mare Mediterraneum, or Mare Nostrum
     * Latvian: Vidusjūra ("Middle sea")
     * Macedonian: Средоземно Море
     * Maltese: Baħar Mediterran
     * Montenegrin: Sredozemno more
     * Norwegian: Middelhavet ("Middle sea")
     * Persian: darya-eh-Meditaraneh
     * Polish: Morze Śródziemne
     * Portuguese: Mar Mediterrâneo
     * Serbian: Sredozemno more (Средоземно море)
     * Slovak: Stredozemné more
     * Slovenian: Sredozemsko morje
     * Spanish: Mar Mediterráneo
     * Swedish: Medelhavet ("Middle sea")
     * Turkish: Akdeniz ("White sea")

   Currently, "The Med" is a common British English contraction for the
   Mediterranean Sea and its surrounding regions when employed in informal
   speech. "The Med" (and more often "the Eastern Med" or "the Western
   Med") are almost to the exclusion of other terms in informal usage in
   the US Navy.

History

Geography and Climate

   Map of the Mediterranean Sea.

   The Mediterranean Sea is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by the Strait
   of Gibraltar on the west and to the Sea of Marmara and Black Sea, by
   the Dardanelles and the Bosporus respectively, on the east. The Sea of
   Marmara is often considered a part of the Mediterranean Sea, whereas
   the Black Sea is generally not. The man-made Suez Canal in the
   south-east connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea.

   Large islands in the Mediterranean include Cyprus, Crete, Euboea,
   Rhodes, Lesbos, Chios, Kefalonia and Corfu in the eastern
   Mediterranean; Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, and Malta in the central
   Mediterranean; and Ibiza, Majorca and Minorca (the Balearic Islands) in
   the western Mediterranean.

   The Mediterranean climate is generally one of wet winters and hot, dry
   summers. Crops of the region include olives, grapes, oranges,
   tangerines, and cork.

Oceanography

   Being nearly landlocked affects the Mediterranean Sea's properties; for
   instance, tides are very limited as a result of the narrow connection
   with the Atlantic ocean. The Mediterranean is characterized and
   immediately recognized by its imposing deep blue colour, especially
   around Greek islands.

   Evaporation greatly exceeds precipitation and river runoff in the
   Mediterranean, a fact that is central to the water circulation within
   the basin. Evaporation is especially high in its eastern half, causing
   the water level to decrease and salinity to increase eastward. This
   pressure gradient pushes relatively cool, low-salinity water from the
   Atlantic across the basin; it warms and becomes saltier as it travels
   east, then sinks in the region of the Levant and circulates westward,
   to spill over the Strait of Gibraltar. Thus, seawater flow is eastward
   in the Strait's surface waters, and westward below; once in the open
   ocean, this chemically-distinct Mediterranean Intermediate Water can
   persist thousands of kilometers away from its source.

Bordering countries

   A satellite image taken from the side of the Straits of Gibraltar. At
   right, Africa; at left, Europe
   Enlarge
   A satellite image taken from the side of the Straits of Gibraltar. At
   right, Africa; at left, Europe

   Twenty-two modern states have a coastline on the Mediterranean Sea.
   They are:
     * Europe (from west to east): Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, the
       island state of Malta, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
       Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Turkey, and the island Republic of
       Cyprus
     * Asia (from north to south): Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Israel.
     * Africa (from east to west): Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and
       Morocco

   Several other territories also border the Mediterranean Sea (from west
   to east):
     * The Crown colony of Gibraltar
     * The Spanish exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla and nearby islands
     * The autonomous monastic state of Mount Athos
     * The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognized only by Turkey
     * The sovereign base area of Akrotiri and Dhekelia
     * The Gaza Strip (governed by the Palestinian National Authority)

   Portugal, Armenia, Serbia and the Vatican City, although they do not
   border the sea, are often considered Mediterranean countries in a wider
   sense due to their Mediterranean climate, fauna and flora, and their
   cultural affinity with other Mediterranean countries.

Subdivisions

   A view across the straits of Gibraltar
   Enlarge
   A view across the straits of Gibraltar

   The Mediterranean Sea is sub-divided into a number of smaller seas,
   each with their own designation (from west to east):
     * the Alboran Sea, between Spain and Morocco,
     * the Balearic Sea, between mainland Spain and its Balearic Islands,
     * the Ligurian Sea between Corsica and Liguria (Italy),
     * the Tyrrhenian Sea enclosed by Sardinia, Italian peninsula and
       Sicily,
     * the Adriatic Sea between the Italian peninsula and the coasts of
       Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Albania
     * the Ionian Sea between Italy, Greece, and Albania,
     * the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey, with
          + the Thracian Sea in its north,
          + the Myrtoan Sea between the Cyclades and the Peloponnesos,
          + the Sea of Crete north of Crete, and
     * the Libyan Sea south of Crete, between the island and Libya
     * the Sea of Marmara between the Aegean and Black Seas.
     * the Cilician Sea between Turkey and Cyprus

   Many of these smaller seas feature in local myth and folklore and
   derive their names from these associations. In addition to the seas, a
   number of gulfs and straits are also recognised:
     * the Gulf of Corinth, an enclosed sea between the Ionian Sea and the
       Corinth Canal
     * the Saronic Gulf, the gulf of Athens, between the Corinth Canal and
       the Mirtoan Sea
     * the Thermaic Gulf, the gulf of Thessaloniki, located in the
       northern Greek region of Macedonia
     * the Gulf of Lion, south of France
     * the Strait of Messina, between Sicily and the toe of Italy
     * the Gulf of Taranto, southern Italy,
     * the Strait of Otranto, between Italy and Albania
     * the Gulf of Haifa, between Haifa and Akko, Israel
     * the Gulf of Sidra, between Tunisia and Cyrenaica (eastern Libya)
     * the Strait of Sicily, between Sicily and Tunisia
     * the Corsica Channel, between Corsica and Italy
     * the Strait of Bonifacio, between Sardinia and Corsica
     * the Gulf of İskenderun, between İskenderun and Adana (Turkey)
     * the Gulf of Antalya, between west and east shores of Antalya
       (Turkey)

Geology

   The geology of the Mediterranean is complex, involving the break-up and
   then collision of the African and Eurasian plates, and the Messinian
   Salinity Crisis in the late Miocene when the Mediterranean dried up.

   The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 1,500 m and the deepest
   recorded point is 5267 meters (about 3.27 miles) in the Calypso Deep in
   the Ionian Sea. The coastline extends for 46,000 km. A shallow
   submarine ridge (the Strait of Sicily) between the island of Sicily and
   the coast of Tunisia divides the sea in two main subregions (which in
   turn are divided into subdivisions), the Western Mediterranean and the
   Eastern Mediterranean. The Western Mediterranean covers an area of
   about 0.85 million km² and the Eastern Mediterranean about 1.65 million
   km².

   In the last few centuries, mankind has done much to alter Mediterranean
   geology. Structures have been built all along the coastlines,
   exacerbating and rerouting erosional patterns. Many pollution-producing
   boats travel the sea that unbalance the natural chemical ratios of the
   region. Beaches have been mismanaged, and the overuse of the sea's
   natural and marine resources continues to be a problem. This misuse
   speeds along and/or confounds natural processes. The actual geography
   has also been altered by the building of dams and canals.

   The Mediterranean was once thought to be the remnant of the Tethys
   Ocean. It is now known to be a structurally younger ocean basin known
   as Neotethys. Neotethys formed during the Late Triassic and Early
   Jurassic rifting of the African and Eurasian plates.

Ecology

   As a result of the drying of the sea during the Messinian Salinity
   Crisis, the marine biota of the Mediterranean are derived primarily
   from the Atlantic Ocean. The North Atlantic is considerably colder and
   more nutrient-rich than the Mediterranean, and the marine life of the
   Mediterranean has had to adapt to its differing conditions in the five
   million years since the basin was reflooded.

   The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 created the first salt-water
   passage between the Mediterranean and Red seas. The Red Sea is higher
   than the Eastern Mediterranean, so the canal serves as a tidal strait
   that pours Red Sea water into the Mediterranean. The Bitter Lakes,
   which are hypersaline natural lakes that form part of the canal,
   blocked the migration of Red Sea species into the Mediterranean for
   many decades, but as the salinity of the lakes gradually equalized with
   that of the Red Sea, the barrier to migration was removed, and plants
   and animals from the Red Sea have begun to colonize the eastern
   Mediterranean. The Red Sea is generally saltier and more nutrient-poor
   than the Atlantic, so the Red Sea species have advantages over Atlantic
   species in the salty and nutrient-poor Eastern Mediterranean. The
   construction of the Aswan High Dam across the Nile River in the 1960s
   reduced the inflow of freshwater and nutrient-rich silt from the Nile
   into the eastern Mediterranean, which has made conditions there even
   more like the Red Sea. This species exchange is known as the Lessepsian
   Migration, after Ferdinand de Lesseps, the engineer who oversaw the
   canal's construction.

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