Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea

Borders of the Mediterranean Sea

TheMediterranean Seais the body ofwaterthat separatesEurope,Africa,andAsia.

The Mediterranean Sea is connected to theAtlantic Oceanby a narrow passage called theStrait of Gibraltar.The sea is almost completely surrounded by land, on the north byEurope,on the south by NorthAfrica,and on the east by theMiddle East.It covers around 2.5 million square kilometres (0.97 million square miles). Its name was invented in theearly Middle Agesfrom theLatinwordsMare Mediterraneum( "in the middle of the land" ).

To the east it connects to theSea of Marmaraand theBlack Sea,by theDardanellesand theBosporus.The Sea of Marmara, which is an inner sea like the Black Sea, is rarely considered as a part of the Mediterranean Sea. The much bigger Black Sea is generally not considered a part of the Mediterranean Sea. TheAncient Greekscalled the Mediterranean Sea simply ἡθάλασσα(hē thálassa; "the Sea" ) or sometimesἡ μεγάλη θάλασσα(hē megálē thálassa; "Great Sea" ),ἡ ἡμετέρα θάλασσα(hē hēmetérā thálassa; "Our Sea" ), orἡ θάλασσα ἡ καθ'ἡμᾶς(hē thálassa hē kath’hēmâs; "the sea around us" ).TheRomanscalled the Mediterranean Sea,Mare Magnum( "Great Sea" ) orMare Internum( "Internal Sea" ) and, starting with theRoman Empire,Mare Nostrum( "Our Sea" ).

The 163 km (101mi) long man-madeSuez Canalin the connects the Mediterranean Sea to theRed Sea.The canal is in Egypt, and was built from 1859 to 1869.

History

Some of the most ancient human civilizations were made around the Mediterranean Sea, so it has had a large influence on the history and ways of life of thesecultures.It provided a way oftrade,colonizationandwar,and was the basis of life (likefishingand catching otherseafood) for many communities throughout the ages. The combination of similarly sharedclimate,geologyand access to a common sea has led to lots of historical and cultural connections between the ancient and modern societies around the Mediterranean.

Above all, it was the superhighwayoftransportin ancient times. It allowed for trade and cultural exchange between peoples of the region –Phoenicians,Egyptians,Iranians,Greeks,Minoans,andHittiteson the eastern side of the mediterranean and theCarthaginians,Romans,Etruscans,Celtiberians,Gauls,andAmazighson the western side.

The history of the Mediterranean is important in understanding the origin and development ofWestern civilization.

The ancientPunic Warsand theBattle of the MediterraneanduringWorld War IIgave the winners control over it so they could destroy the losers. Today the Mediterranean Sea still connects the economies of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East as it did in ancient times.

Oceanography

Almost 6 million years ago,continental driftclosed theStrait of Gibraltar.With no water coming in from theAtlantic Ocean,the Mediterranean partly dried up. The remaining part became extremelysalty.After half a million years the straits opened again, making the Mediterranean as it is now.

Being nearly landlocked affects the Mediterranean Sea's properties.Tidesare limited by the narrow connection with the Atlantic Ocean. The water is saltier, partly because ofevaporation.The Mediterranean has a deep blue color.

Evaporationgreatly exceedsprecipitationandsurface runoffin 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 andsalinityto increase eastward.Thispressure gradientpushes 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 theLevantand circulates westward, to spill over the Strait of Gibraltar.Thus, seawater flow is eastward at the Strait's surface, and westward near the bottom. In the Atlantic, this chemically distinct deep "Mediterranean Intermediate Water" can persist thousands of kilometers away from its source.

Related pages

• Mediterranean climate