Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea (Akdeniz in Turkish) is surrounded by Asia to the east, Europe to the north and Africa to the south. It's connected to the Atlantic Ocean to the west with Gibraltar Strait. It's also connected to the Red Sea in the southeast with the Suez Canal in Egypt, a man-made canal built in 1869. And to the east it's connected to the Sea of Marmara by Dardanelles Strait. Aegean and Marmara Seas are often considered as a part of the Mediterranean Sea. The sea gave also its name to the Mediterranean region of Turkey.

Mediterranean covers about 2,5million square kilometers, its shores were home to many ancient civilizations in the history, such as Phoenicians, Egyptians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Lycians, Arabs, Persians, Romans, Byzantines, Seljuks, Ottomans and so on. The name comes from Latin; Medi means middle, Terra means land or place. The Romans called it Mare Nostrum, Our Sea. In Turkish it's called Akdeniz, White Sea.

There aren't much tides in the Mediterranean because of its narrow connection with the Atlantic. The average depth is about 1500 meters and the deepest point reaches at 5267 meters. The coastline is approximately 46,000 kilometers long.

Countries that border with the Mediterranean are:
In Europe, from west to east; Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, Albania, Greece, and European shores of Turkey.

In Asia, from north to south; Asian shores of Turkey, Syria, Cyprus, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Egypt.

In Africa, from east to west; Egypt, Libya, Tunis, Algeria, and Morocco.

Biggest islands in the Mediterranean are: Cyprus, Crete, Rhodes, Lesbos, Chios, Corfu in the eastern Mediterranean; Sardegna, Corsica, Sicily, Malta in the central Mediterranean; Ibiza, Majorca, Minorca in the western Mediterranean.