Mediterranean Profile The Mediterranean is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and 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 sq mi), 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 an important route for merchants and travelers of ancient times, allowing for trade and cultural exchange between emergent peoples of the region — the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Semitic, Persian, Phoenician, Carthaginian, Greek, Levantine, Roman and Moorish cultures. The history of the Mediterranean region is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies. The term Mediterranean derives from the Latin word mediterraneus, meaning "in the middle of earth" (medius, "middle" + terra, "land, earth"). This is due to the sea's being surrounded by land (especially compared to the Atlantic Ocean). 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). The Greeks name it Mesogeios, meaning "inland, interior" (µes?, "middle" + ?a???, "land, earth"). 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. 11:24; Joel 2:20), and also the "Sea of the Philistines" (Exod. 22:81), because that people occupied a large portion of its shores near the Israelites. Mostly, however, it was the "Great Sea" (Num. 34:6,7; Josh. 1:4, 9:1, 15:47; Ezek. 47:10,15,20), or simply "The Sea" (1 Kings 5:9; comp. 1 Macc. 14:34, 15:11). In Modern Hebrew, it is called Hayam Hatikhon, "the middle sea", a literal adaptation of the German equivalent Mittelmeer. In Turkish, it is Akdeniz, "the white sea". In Arabic, it is Al-Bahr Al-Abyad Al-Mutawassit, "the middle white sea". As a sea around which some of the most ancient human civilizations were arranged, it has had a major influence on the history and ways of life of these cultures. It provided a way of trade, colonization and war, and was the basis of life (via fishing and the gathering of other seafood) for numerous communities throughout the ages. The combination of similar-shared climate, geology and access to a common sea has led to numerous historical and cultural connections between the ancient and modern societies around the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean Sea is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by the Strait of Gibraltar on the west and to the Sea of Marmara and the 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 163 km (101 mi) long man-made Suez Canal in the southeast connects the Mediterranean Sea to 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 climate is typical Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. Crops of the region include olives, grapes, oranges, tangerines, and cork. 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 deep blue color. 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 Atlantic, this chemically-distinct "Mediterranean Intermediate Water" can persist thousands of kilometers away from its source. Bordering Countries: Twenty-one 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 Cyprus. Asia (from north to south): 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 British overseas territory of Gibraltar The Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla and nearby islands The British sovereign base area of Akrotiri and Dhekelia The Palestinian National Authority Andorra, Jordan, Portugal, San Marino, 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/or their cultural affinity with other Mediterranean countries. Major cities bordering the Mediterranean Sea include Malaga, Valencia, Barcelona, Marseille, Nice, Genoa, Naples, Palermo, Messina, Athens, Istanbul, Beirut, Tel Aviv, Alexandria, Benghazi, Tripoli, Tunis, and Algiers. Home, Mediterranean Subdivisions and Geology, Mediterranean History, Mediterranean Diet, Old version of this homepage References: entry µes??a??? at Liddell & Scott Pinet, Paul R. (1996) Invitation to Oceanography, St Paul, MN: West Publishing Co., ISBN (3rd ed.), p.202, 206, 206–207 IHO Codes for Oceans & Seas, and Other Code Systems Limits of Oceans and Seas, Special Publication 23, 3rd Edition 1953, published by the International Hydrographic Organization Galil, B.S. and Zenetos, A. (2002). A sea change: exotics in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, in: Leppäkoski, E. et al. (2002). Invasive aquatic species of Europe: distribution, impacts and management. pp. 325-336. http://www.explorecrete.com/nature/mediterranean.html http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l28084.htm http://www.monachus-guardian.org/factfiles/medit01.htm Marine Litter: An analytical overview". United Nations Environment Programme (2005). Retrieved on 2008-08-01. Wikipedia.org

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