MEDITERRANEAN SEA – GEOGRAPHY
News: Iran
threatens Mediterranean closure over Gaza, without saying how
What's in the news?
● An
Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said the Mediterranean Sea could be
closed if the United States and its allies continued to commit
"crimes" in Gaza, Iranian media reported, without explaining how that
would happen.
Mediterranean Sea:
● It
is an intercontinental sea that is
bordered by the continent of Europe in the north, by Asia in the east, and by
Africa in the south.
● In
the west, the Mediterranean Sea is
connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the narrow Strait of Gibraltar.
● In
the extreme northeast, it is
connected to the Black Sea via the Dardanelles Strait, the Sea of Marmara, and
the Bosporus Strait.
● The
Mediterranean Sea is also connected to the Red Sea via the Suez Canal in the
southeast.
Bordering Countries:
● 22
countries and one territory (Gibraltar - a British Overseas Territory) have
coasts on the Mediterranean Sea.
● The
European Countries are Spain,
France, Italy, Malta, Monaco, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Montenegro, Albania, and Greece.
● The
West Asian (Middle Eastern) countries
bordering the Mediterranean Sea are Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the
Palestine Gaza Strip and the divided island of Cyprus.
● Five North African
nations have coasts on the Mediterranean Sea:
Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt.
● The
Mediterranean Sea offers a staggering 46,000 km (28,600 mi) long coastline and
includes 15 marginal seas, such as the Balearic Sea, the Adriatic Sea, the
Levantine Sea and the Ionian Sea.
Rivers:
● A
large number of rivers drain into the Mediterranean Sea, including the Ebro,
Rhone, Po, Nile, Tiber, etc.
Islands:
● Some
of the large Mediterranean Islands include Corsica, Crete, Cyprus, Chios,
Euboea, Lesbos, Mallorca, Rhodes, Sicily, and Sardinia.
● The
island of Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.
Climate:
● The
region is characterized by the prevailing subtropical
climate known as the Mediterranean climate, with usually mild, wet winters
and hot, dry summers.
Other Key takeaways:
● Mediterranean
Sea waters are more saline compared to the waters of the Atlantic.
● There
is a continuous movement of water from the Atlantic into the Mediterranean and
vice versa through the Strait of
Gibraltar.