subject: Things To Know Before You Travel To The Mediterranean [print this page] The first thing to know about the Mediterranean is that there is nothing typical about it. Historically it has been home to some of the most ancient civilizations in the world. There are olive trees in Lebanon and Israel that were standing at the time of Moses. It has spawned wars and conflicts over its history that has shaped both the region and the world, democracy was born here.
The area is twenty one states and four territories all sharing a coastline on the Mediterranean Sea
Europe
Albania
Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Croatia
Cyprus
France
Greece
Malta
Italy (Southernmost islands are part of Africa)
Monaco,
Montenegro
Slovenia,
Spain
Turkey
Levant Countries
Egypt
Israel
Lebanon
Syria
North Africa
Algeria
Libya
Morocco
The territories are
The British overseas territory of Gibraltar
The Spanish Ceuta and Melilla
The British sovereign base area of Akrotiri and Dhekelia
The Palestinian Gaza Strip
The Mediterranean includes several smaller seas,
The Strait of Gibraltar;
The Alboran Sea, separating Spain and Morocco;
The Balearic Sea, between the Spanish mainland and the Balearic Islands;
The Liguria Sea between Corsica and Liguria in Italy
The Tyrrhenian Sea between Sardinia, and Sicily and mainland Italy
The Ionian Sea between Albania, Greece and Italy
The Adriatic Sea connecting Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania
The Aegean Sea separating Greece and Turkey.
Despite this large area there are other areas that although they do not have a coastal border with the Mediterranean they are loosely referred to as Mediterranean and they are the Spanish principality of Andorra, The Vatican City, although landlocked by Italy, Jordan on the Red sea and bordering Israel to its West. San Marino also bordered by Italy, Portugal the most Westerly portion of the Iberian Peninsula bordering Spain, Macedonia and Serbia.
It is estimated that a third of the globe's tourists in any year visit the Mediterranean, partly because of its warm climate spectacular coastlines and deep blue water. The Mediterranean basin has influenced the development of many of the world's greatest cultures, The Greeks Romans, the Phoenicians, Egyptian Mesopotamian, the Holy Roman Empire, the Turkish Ottoman empires and Carthagian cultures have all vied for supremacy on its coastlines.
Because of its temperate climate there is a holiday industry all the year around but the high season months are July and August when the region is at its hottest. There is something for everyone in the Mediterranean whether it is a beach holiday of sun sea and sand, or a walking holiday to see some of the last of the wild boars of Europe, or wandering around some of the world's oldest religious buildings. The ancient city of Dubrovnik is now a world heritage site. There are over two hundred islands in the Mediterranean all offering a different type of holiday.
It begins from the Atlantic Ocean just under the Strait of Gibraltar and you can see the clear division where the two seas meet for hundreds of yards. It goes all the way to the Black Sea through the Sea of Marmara, and the Bosporus on the Turkish coast. It connects the Mediterranean with Africa and the Red Sea through the Suez Canal.
The chief islands are the Italian islands of Sardinia and Sicily, the French Corsica with its rugged mountain scenery and rugged people. The main Greek Islands are Crete, and Rhodes, and then there is Cyprus and Malta. Other groups of islands are the Spanish Balearics comprising of Majorca, Mallorca, Ibiza and Formentera, other groups are the Sporades, the Ionian Islands.
by: Dan McCarthy
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