Mediterranean Sea
Map of the Mediterranean Sea
Location	Southern Europe North Africa Western Asia
Coordinates	35°N 18°E / 35°N 18°E / 35; 18Coordinates: 35°N 18°E / 35°N 18°E / 35; 18
Type	Sea
Primary inflows	Atlantic Ocean, Sea of Marmara, Nile, Ebro, Rhône, Chelif, Po
Basin countries	Coastal countries: Albania Algeria Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatia Cyprus Egypt France Greece Israel Italy Lebanon Libya Malta Monaco Montenegro Morocco Northern Cyprus (recognized only by Turkey, see Cyprus dispute) Palestine Slovenia Spain Syria Tunisia Turkey United Kingdom (Akrotiri and Dhekelia and Gibraltar) For other countries, see §Hydrography
Surface area	2,500,000 km2 (970,000 sq mi)
Average depth	1,500 m (4,900 ft)
Max. depth	5,109 m (16,762 ft) ±1 m (3 ft)
Water volume	3,750,000 km3 (900,000 cu mi)
Residence time	80–100 years[1]
Max. temperature	28 °C (82 °F)
Min. temperature	12 °C (54 °F)
Islands	3300+
Settlements	Alexandria Barcelona Algiers Izmir Rome Tel Aviv-Yafo Athens Antalya Beirut Mersin Marseille Tripoli Muğla (full list)

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The Mediterranean has played a central role in the history of Western civilization. Geological evidence indicates that around 5.9 million years ago, the Mediterranean was cut off from the Atlantic and was partly or completely desiccated over a period of some 600,000 years during the Messinian salinity crisis before being refilled by the Zanclean flood about 5.3 million years ago.

The Mediterranean Sea covers an area of about 2,500,000 km² (970,000 sq mi),^[2] representing 0.7% of the global ocean surface, but its connection to the Atlantic via the Strait of Gibraltar—the narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates the Iberian Peninsula in Europe from Morocco in Africa—is only 14 km (9 mi) wide. The Mediterranean Sea encompasses a vast number of islands, some of them of volcanic origin. The two largest islands, in both area and population, are Sicily and Sardinia.

The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 1,500 m (4,900 ft) and the deepest recorded point is 5,109 m (16,762 ft) ±1 m (3 ft) in the Calypso Deep in the Ionian Sea. It lies between latitudes 30° and 46° N and longitudes 6° W and 36° E. Its west–east length, from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Gulf of Alexandretta, on the southeastern coast of Turkey, is about 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi). The north–south length varies greatly between different shorelines and whether only straight routes are considered. Also including longitudal changes, the shortest shipping route between the multinational Gulf of Trieste and the Libyan coastline of Gulf of Sidra is about 1,900 kilometres (1,200 mi). The water temperatures are mild in winter and warm in summer and give name to the mediterranean climate type due to the majority of precipitation falling in the cooler months. Its southern and eastern coastlines are lined with hot deserts not far inland, but the immediate coastline on all sides of the Mediterranean tends to have strong maritime moderation.

The sea was an important route for merchants and travelers of ancient times, facilitating trade and cultural exchange between peoples of the region. The history of the Mediterranean region is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies. The Roman Empire maintained nautical hegemony over the sea for centuries.

The countries surrounding the Mediterranean in clockwise order are Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco; Malta and Cyprus are island countries in the sea. In addition, the disputed territory of North Cyprus, and some exclaves, notably Gibraltar and Ceuta, have coastlines on the sea. Alexandria is the largest coastal settlement. The drainage basin encompasses a large number of other countries, the Nile being the longest river ending in the Mediterranean Sea.

History

Ancient civilizations

Greek (red) and Phoenician (yellow) colonies in antiquity c. the 6th century BC

The Roman Empire at its farthest extent in AD 117

Major ancient civilizations were located around the Mediterranean. The sea provided routes for trade, colonization, and war, as well as food (from fishing and the gathering of other seafood) for numerous communities throughout the ages.^[3]

The most notable Mediterranean civilizations in classical antiquity were the Greek city states, Persians and the Phoenicians, both of which extensively colonized the coastlines of the Mediterranean.

Darius I of Persia, who conquered Ancient Egypt, built a canal linking the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. Darius's canal was wide enough for two triremes to pass each other with oars extended, and required four days to traverse.^[4]

Later, when Augustus founded the Roman Empire, the Romans referred to the Mediterranean as Mare Nostrum ("Our Sea"). For the next 400 years, the Roman Empire completely controlled the Mediterranean Sea and virtually all its coastal regions from Gibraltar to the Levant.

In 2019, the archaeological team of experts from Underwater Research Center of the Akdeniz University (UA) revealed a shipwreck dating back 3,600 years in the Mediterranean Sea in Turkey. 1.5 tons of copper ingots found in the ship were used to estimate its age. The Governor of Antalya Munir Karaloğlu described this valuable discovery as the "Göbeklitepe of the underwater world”. It has been confirmed that the shipwreck, dating back to 1600 BC, is older than the "Uluburun Shipwreck" dating back to 1400 BC.^[5][6][7]

Middle Ages and empires

The Western Roman Empire collapsed around 476 AD. The east was again dominant as Roman power lived on in the Byzantine Empire formed in the 4th century from the eastern half of the Roman Empire. Another power arose in the 7th century, and with it the religion of Islam, which soon swept across from the east; at its greatest extent, the Arabs, under the Umayyads, controlled most of the Mediterranean region and left a lasting footprint on its eastern and southern shores.

The Arab invasions disrupted the trade relations between Western and Eastern Europe while disrupting trade routes with Eastern Asian Empires. This, however, had the indirect effect of promoting the trade across the Caspian Sea. The export of grains from Egypt was re-routed towards the Eastern world. Products from East Asian empires, like silk and spices, were carried from Egypt to ports like Venice and Constantinople by sailors and Jewish merchants. The Viking raids further disrupted the trade in western Europe and brought it to a halt. However, the Norsemen developed the trade from Norway to the White Sea, while also trading in luxury goods from Spain and the Mediterranean. The Byzantines in the mid-8th century retook control of the area around the north-eastern part of the Mediterranean. Venetian ships from the 9th century armed themselves to counter the harassment by Arabs while concentrating trade of Asian goods in Venice.^[8]

The Battle of Lepanto, 1571, ended in victory for the European Holy League against the Ottoman Turks.

The Fatimids maintained trade relations with the Italian city-states like Amalfi and Genoa before the Crusades, according to the Cairo Geniza documents. A document dated 996 mentions Amalfian merchants living in Cairo. Another letter states that the Genoese had traded with Alexandria. The caliph al-Mustansir had allowed Amalfian merchants to reside in Jerusalem about 1060 in place of the Latin hospice.^[9]

The Crusades led to flourishing of trade between Europe and the outremer region.^[10] Genoa, Venice and Pisa created colonies in regions controlled by the Crusaders and came to control the trade with the Orient. These colonies also allowed them to trade with the Eastern world. Though the fall of the Crusader states and attempts at banning of trade relations with Muslim states by the Popes temporarily disrupted the trade with the Orient, it however continued.^[11]

Europe started to revive, however, as more organized and centralized states began to form in the later Middle Ages after the Renaissance of the 12th century.

The bombardment of Algiers by the Anglo-Dutch fleet in support of an ultimatum to release European slaves, August 1816

Ottoman power based in Anatolia continued to grow, and in 1453 extinguished the Byzantine Empire with the Conquest of Constantinople. Ottomans gained control of much of the eastern part sea in the 16th century and also maintained naval bases in southern France (1543–1544), Algeria and Tunisia. Barbarossa, the Ottoman captain is a symbol of this domination with the victory of the Battle of Preveza (1538). The Battle of Djerba (1560) marked the apex of Ottoman naval domination in the eastern Mediterranean. As the European powers started to focus on Mediterranean ,they confronted Ottoman expansion in the region when the Battle of Lepanto (1571) checked the power of the Ottoman Navy. This was the last naval battle to be fought primarily between galleys.

The Barbary pirates of Northwest Africa preyed on Christian shipping and coastlines in the Western Mediterranean Sea.^[12] According to Robert Davis, from the 16th to 19th centuries, pirates captured 1 million to 1.25 million Europeans as slaves.^[13]

The development of oceanic shipping began to affect the entire Mediterranean. Once, most of the trade between Western Europe and the East was passing through the region, but after the 1490s the development of a sea route to the Indian Ocean allowed the importation of Asian spices and other goods through the Atlantic ports of western Europe.^[14][15][16]

The sea remained strategically important. British mastery of Gibraltar ensured their influence in Africa and Southwest Asia. Especially after the naval battles of Abukir (1799, Battle of the Nile) and Trafalgar (1805), the British had for a long time strengthened their dominance in the Mediterranean.^[17] Wars included Naval warfare in the Mediterranean during World War I and Mediterranean theatre of World War II.

With the opening of the lockless Suez Canal in 1869, the flow of trade between Europe and Asia changed fundamentally. The fastest route now led through the Mediterranean towards East Africa and Asia. This led to a preference for the Mediterranean countries and their ports like Trieste with the direct connections to Central and Eastern Europe experienced a rapid economic rise. In the 20th century, the 1st and 2nd World War as well as the Suez Crisis and the Cold War led to a shift of trade routes to the European northern ports, which changed again towards the southern ports through European integration, the activation of the Silk Road and free world trade.^[18]

21st century and migrations

Satellite image of the Mediterranean Sea at night

In 2013, the Maltese president described the Mediterranean Sea as a "cemetery" due to the large number of migrants who drowned there after their boats capsized.^[19] European Parliament president Martin Schulz said in 2014 that Europe's migration policy "turned the Mediterranean into a graveyard", referring to the number of drowned refugees in the region as a direct result of the policies.^[20] An Azerbaijani official described the sea as "a burial ground ... where people die".^[21]

Following the 2013 Lampedusa migrant shipwreck, the Italian government decided to strengthen the national system for the patrolling of the Mediterranean Sea by authorising "Operation Mare Nostrum", a military and humanitarian mission in order to rescue the migrants and arrest the traffickers of immigrants. In 2015, more than one million migrants crossed the Mediterranean Sea into Europe.^[22]

Italy was particularly affected by the European migrant crisis. Since 2013, over 700,000 migrants have landed in Italy,^[23] mainly sub-Saharan Africans.^[24]

Geography

A satellite image showing the Mediterranean Sea. The Strait of Gibraltar appears in the bottom left (north-west) quarter of the image; to its left is the Iberian Peninsula in Europe, and to its right, the Maghreb in Africa.

The Dardanelles strait in Turkey. The north (upper) side forms part of Europe (the Gelibolu Peninsula in the Thrace region); on the south (lower) side is Anatolia in Asia.

The Mediterranean Sea connects:

• to the Atlantic Ocean by the Strait of Gibraltar (known in Homer's writings as the "Pillars of Hercules") in the west
• to the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea, by the Straits of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus respectively, in the east

The 163 km (101 mi) long artificial Suez Canal in the southeast connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea without ship lock, because the water level is essentially the same.^[25][26]

The westernmost point of the Mediterranean is located at the transition from the Alborán Sea to the Strait of Gibraltar, the easternmost point is on the coast of the Gulf of Iskenderun in southeastern Turkey. The northernmost point of the Mediterranean is on the coast of the Gulf of Trieste near Monfalcone in northern Italy while the southernmost point is on the coast of the Gulf of Sidra near the Libyan town of El Agheila.

Large islands in the Mediterranean include:

• Cyprus, Crete, Euboea, Rhodes, Lesbos, Chios, Kefalonia, Corfu, Limnos, Samos, Naxos, and Andros in the Eastern Mediterranean
• Sicily, Cres, Krk, Brač, Hvar, Pag, Korčula, and Malta in the central Mediterranean
• Sardinia, Corsica, and the Balearic Islands: Ibiza, Majorca, and Menorca in the Western Mediterranean

The Alpine arc, which also has a great meteorological impact on the Mediterranean area, touches the Mediterranean in the west in the area around Nice.

The typical Mediterranean climate has hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. Crops of the region include olives, grapes, oranges, tangerines, carobs and cork.

Although the Mediterranean is sometimes considered a part of the Atlantic Ocean^{[citation needed]}, it is usually referred to as a separate body of water.

Marginal seas

The Elaphiti Islands off the coast of Croatia; the Adriatic Sea contains over 1200 islands and islets.

The Mediterranean Sea includes 15 marginal seas:^[27]

• List of seas
• Category:Marginal seas of the Mediterranean
• Category:Gulfs of the Mediterranean
• Category:Straits of the Mediterranean Sea
• Category:Channels of the Mediterranean Sea

Note 1: The International Hydrographic Organization defines the area as generic Mediterranean Sea, in the Western Basin. It does not recognize the label Sea of Sardinia.^[29]

Note 2: Thracian Sea and Myrtoan Sea are seas that are part of the Aegean Sea.

Note 3: The Black Sea is not considered part of it.

Extent

Borders of the Mediterranean Sea

The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Mediterranean Sea as follows:^[29] Stretching from the Strait of Gibraltar in the west to the entrances to the Dardanelles and the Suez Canal in the east, the Mediterranean Sea is bounded by the coasts of Europe, Africa, and Asia and is divided into two deep basins:

• Western Basin:
  • On the west: A line joining the extremities of Cape Trafalgar (Spain) and Cape Spartel (Africa)
  • On the northeast: The west coast of Italy. In the Strait of Messina, a line joining the north extreme of Cape Paci (15°42′E) with Cape Peloro, the east extreme of the Island of Sicily. The north coast of Sicily
  • On the east: A line joining Cape Lilibeo the western point of Sicily (37°47′N 12°22′E / 37.783°N 12.367°E / 37.783; 12.367), through the Adventure Bank to Cape Bon (Tunisia)
• Eastern Basin:
  • On the west: The northeastern and eastern limits of the Western Basin
  • On the northeast: A line joining Kum Kale (26°11′E) and Cape Helles, the western entrance to the Dardanelles
  • On the southeast: The entrance to the Suez Canal
  • On the east: The coasts of Lebanon, Syria, and Israel

Hydrography

Approximate extent of the Mediterranean drainage basin (dark green). Nile basin only partially shown

The drainage basin of the Mediterranean Sea is particularly heterogeneous and extends much further than the Mediterranean region.^[30] Its size has been estimated between 4,000,000 km² (1,500,000 sq mi) and 5,500,000 km² (2,100,000 sq mi),^{[note 1]} depending on whether non-active parts (deserts) are included or not.^[31][32][33] The longest river ending in the Mediterranean Sea is the Nile, which takes its sources in equatorial Africa. The basin of the Nile constitutes about two-thirds of the Mediterranean drainage basin^[32] and encompasses areas as high as the Ruwenzori Mountains.^[34] Among other important rivers in Africa, are the Moulouya and the Chelif, both on the north side of the Atlas Mountains. In Asia, are the Ceyhan and Seyhan, both on the south side of the Taurus Mountains.^[35] In Europe, the largest basins are those of the Rhône, Ebro, Po, and Maritsa.^[36] The basin of the Rhône is the largest and extends up as far north as the Jura Mountains, encompassing areas even on the north side of the Alps.^[37] The basins of the Ebro, Po, and Maritsa, are respectively south of the Pyrenees, Alps, and Balkan Mountains, which are the major ranges bordering Southern Europe.

Total annual precipitation is significantly higher on the European part of the Mediterranean basin, especially near the Alps (the 'water tower of Europe') and other high mountain ranges. As a consequence, the river discharges of the Rhône and Po are similar to that of the Nile, despite the latter having a much larger basin.^[35] These are the only three rivers with an average discharge of over 1,000 m³/s (35,000 cu ft/s).^[32] Among large natural fresh bodies of water are Lake Victoria (Nile basin), Lake Geneva (Rhône), and the Italian Lakes (Po). While the Mediterranean watershed is bordered by other river basins in Europe, it is essentially bordered by endorheic basins or deserts elsewhere.

The following countries are in the Mediterranean drainage basin while not having a coastline on the Mediterranean Sea:

• In Europe, through various rivers:^[36] Andorra,^{[note 2]} Bulgaria,^{[note 3]} Kosovo,^{[note 4]} North Macedonia,^{[note 5]} San Marino,^{[note 6]} Serbia,^{[note 7]} and Switzerland.^{[note 8]}
• In Africa, through the Nile:^[39] Congo, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

Coastal countries

Map of the Mediterranean Sea from open Natural Earth data, 2020

The following countries have a coastline on the Mediterranean Sea:

• Northern shore (from west to east): Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Turkey.
• Eastern shore (from north to south): Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Egypt.
• Southern shore (from west to east): Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt.
• Island nations: Malta, Cyprus.

Several other territories also border the Mediterranean Sea (from west to east):

• the British overseas territory of Gibraltar
• the Spanish autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla and nearby islands
• the Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus
• the Palestinian Gaza Strip

Alexandria, the largest city on the Mediterranean

Barcelona, the second largest metropolitan area on the Mediterranean Sea (after Alexandria) and the headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean

The Acropolis of Athens with the Mediterranean Sea in the background

The ancient port of Jaffa (now in Tel Aviv-Yafo), from which the biblical Jonah set sail before being swallowed by a whale^[40]

Catania, Sicily, Italy, with Mount Etna in the background

İzmir, the third metropolis of Turkey (after Istanbul and Ankara)

Exclusive economic zone

Exclusive economic zones in Mediterranean Sea:^[41][42]

Number	Country	Area (Km2)
1	Italy	541,915
2	Greece	493,708
3	Libya	355,604
4	Spain	260,000
5	Egypt	169,125
6	Algeria	128,843
7	Tunisia	102,047
8	Cyprus	98,088
9	France	88,389
10	Turkey	72,195
11	Croatia	59,032
12	Malta	55,542
13	Israel	25,139
14	Lebanon	19,265
15	Morocco	18,302
16	Albania	13,691
17	Syria	10,189
18	Montenegro	7,745
19	Palestine	2,591
20	Monaco	288
21	Slovenia	220
22	Bosnia and Herzegovina	50
23	United Kingdom	6.8
Total	Mediterranean Sea	2,500,000

Coastline length