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The Mediterranean Sea is an almost landlocked body of water which borders the three continents of Africa to it's south, Asia to it's east and Europe to it's north. The surface area of the Mediterranean is 2.5 million sq km and it has a coastline of 46,000 km which borders twenty one countries.
The name Mediterranean comes from the Latin for middle earth, due to it's geographical location linking three continents.On old maps it can also be seen as Mare Nostrum, Latin for Our Sea.
The Mediterranean Sea is linked to the Black Sea, via the Bosphorous Sea, to it's east by the 61 km long Dardanelles Strait and linked to the Atlantic Ocean to it's west by the 14.3 km wide Strait of Gibraltar.
The sea has an average depth of around 1,500 metres, with it's deepest point located at the Calypso Deep in the Ionian Sea, at 5,267 metres deep.
The sea contains around 3,000 islands, most of which are regions of it's bordering countries, as well as the two island nations of Cyprus and Malta.
The Mediterranean Sea is one of the world's busiest shipping routes, with over a third of the world's cargo vessels and thousands of cruise liners passing through it annually. This has led to high instances of marine pollution, mainly from chemical and crude oil spillages. The waters of the Mediterranean are also seriously over fished, leading to alarmingly low fish reserves within it's waters.
Major port cities located on the Mediterranean include Marseilles in France, the sea's largest, Barcelona in Spain, the sea's most populated city, Antalya in Turkey, Civitavecchia in Italy, Tel Aviv in Israel and Piraeus in Greece.
THE UNION FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN
The Union for the Mediterranean is a secretariat which was proposed by Nicolas Sarkozy during his French presidential election campaign of 2007. Sarkozy wanted the union to be modeled on the European Union and include countries which were not able to join the E.U. These countries were to share common institutions, judiciary and hold forums for dialogue between Israel and it's neighbours. After Sarkozy's election success he invited all heads of state and government of the Mediterranean region to a meeting in Paris with a view to laying the basis of the union.
The union was eventually formed on the 13th July 2008 and it's headquarters are located at the Palau Reial de Pedralbes in Barcelona, Spain.
Today the union consists of forty three member states and one observer state, they are, the twenty eight European Union member states of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom, and the fifteen new Mediterranean member states of Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey. Libya is the union's one observer state.
The union's Secretary General is elected by consensus from a non EU country for a term of three years, with the first Secretary General Jordanian, Ahmad Khalaf Masa'deh, the former Ambassador of Jordan to the EU, Belgium, Norway and Luxembourg, but he resigned after only one year in office. Masa'deh was replaced by Moroccan Youssef Amrani who was then replaced by fellow Moroccan Fathallah Sijilmassi in 2012.
THE LARGEST ISLAND GROUPS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN
There are several hundred island groups situated in the Mediterranean, the largest of which are;
The Aeolian Islands - Are a volcanic, archipelago consisting of eight islands situated in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The islands cover an area of 1, 600 square kilometers, known as the Aeolian Arc. The largest island in the group is Lipari but the most famous is Stromboli, home of the active volcano Mount Stromboli. The islands are a region of Italy and an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Argo - Saronic Islands - The Greek Argo - Saronic Islands are situated in the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea. The island group is made up of five main islands and several islets, the largest of which is the island of Salamis.
The Balearic Islands - Spain's Balearic Islands are situated in the western Mediterranean and consist of four main islands and several islets which have a land area of 4,992 square kilometers.The group's largest island is Mallorca / Majorca, where the island group's capital city, Palma, is located.
The Cyclades Islands - The Greek Cyclades Islands are a group of two hundred and twenty islands situated in the Aegean Sea, which have a land area of 2,572 square kilometers. The group's largest island is Naxos. The island's main city is Ermoupolis, situated on the island of Syros.
The Dodecanese Islands -The Greek Dodecanese Islands are a group of one hundred and fifty islands which cover a land area of 2,714 square kilometers, situated in the Aegean Sea.The island group is made up of twelve main islands, the largest of which is the island of Rhodes, where the group's main town, Rhodes Town, is situated.
The Ionian Islands - The Greek Ionian Islands are a group of seven main islands and several islets, situated in the Ionian Sea. The island group's largest island is Kephalonia but the group's most well known island is Corfu.
Malta - The Republic of Malta consists of nine islands, of which only three are inhabited, and several rocky outcrops, which cover a land area of 316 square kilometers. The island group's largest island is Malta, where both the island group's largest town, Birkirkara, and capital city, Valetta, are situated.
The Pelagian Islands - The Pelagian Islands are group of three small islands which cover a land area of just 25.5 square kilometres. The islands are geographically part of Africa and lie only 113 kilometers north of the coast of Tunisia, but politically part of Italy, where they lie 176 kilometers south of the island of Sicily. The island group's largest island is Lampedusa.
THE LARGEST ISLANDS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA
Sicily - Capital city Palermo - Autonomous region of Italy - 25,662 sq km.
Sardinia - Capital city Cagliari - Autonomous region of Italy - 23,949 sq km.
Cyprus - Capital city Nicosia - Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus - 9,234 sq km.
Corsica - Capital city Ajaccio - Autonomous region of France - 8,741 sq km.
Crete - Main town Heraklion - Administrative division of Greece - 8,350 sq km.
SEAS WHICH MAKE UP THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA
Map courtesy of madman2001, wikimedia commons.
The Adriatic Sea
The Aegean Sea.
The Alborean Sea.
The Balearic Sea.
The Catalan Sea.
The Cilician Sea.
The Ionian Sea.
The Icarian Sea.
The Levantine Sea.
The Ligurian Sea.
The Libyan Sea.
The Myrtoan Sea.
The Tyrrhenian Sea.
The Sea of Crete.
The Sea of Sardinia.
The Sea of Sicily.
The Thracian Sea
COUNTRIES WITH A MEDITERRANEAN SEA COASTLINE
The Mediterranean Sea borders twenty two countries, twelve in Europe, five in Asia and five in north Africa. These countries are;
AFRICA - Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia.
ASIA - Israel, Lebanon, Palestinian Territories, Syria and Turkey.
EUROPE - Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia and Spain.
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