| Mediterranean Sea, the world's largest inland sea surrounded by Europe, Asia and Africa. The Mediterranean is 3900 Kilometers (2400 Miles) long with a maximum width of 1600 Kilometers (1000 Miles) its greatest depth is 4400 Meters (14450 Feet) It connects with Atlantic Ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar; with Black Sea through the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus; with the Red Sea through the Suez Canal. Its chief divisions are the Tyrrhenian, Adriatic, Lonian and Aegean seas; its chief islands are Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Crete, Cyprus, Malta, Rhodes, the Dodecanese, the Cycladesi the Sporates, the Balearic Islands and the Ionian Islands. Mediterranean has higher salinity than the Atlantic and little variation in tides. The largest rivers that flow into it are the Po, Rhone, Ebro, and Nile. The shores are chiefly mountainnous. The region around the sea hass a warm, dry climate characterized by abundant sunshine. Strong local winds, such as the hot, dry sirocco from the South and cold, dry mistral and bora from the North, blow across the sea. The most ancient civilizations flourished around the Mediterranean. It was opened as a highway for commerce by merchants trading from Phoenicia. Carthage, Greece, Sicily and Rome were rivals for dominance of its shores and trade; under the Roman Empire it became virtually a Roman lake and was called Mare Nostrum. Later, the Byzantine Empire and the Arabs dominated the Mediterranean. Between 11th and 14th centuries, Italian city trading states such as Genoa, Venice and Barcelona dominated the region; they struggled with the Ottomans for naval supremacy, particularly in the Mediterranean. Products of Asia passed to Europe over Mediterranean trade routes until the establishment of a route around the Cape of Good Hope. With the opening of Suez Canal (1869) the Mediterranean resumed its importance as a link on the route to the East. The development of the Nothern regions off Africa and oil fields in the Middle East has increased its trade. |
