ABSTRACT
Covering just under one million square miles (2.6 million square km), the Mediterranean is the world's largest inland sea; it is enclosed by Europe to the north, the western extremity of Asia to the east and Africa to the south. Since earliest times it has been one of the most travelled seaways in the world and acted as the cradle of sailing and seapower. The three entrances to the Mediterranean have each played significant strategic roles in its history. In the west, Gibraltar guards the straits of that name which give access to the Atlantic. In the north-east the Dardanelles guard the passage from the Mediterranean through to the Black Sea. And in the south-east the Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean with the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Four great peninsulas have shaped the history of this inland sea. The Iberian Peninsula, consisting of Spain and Portugal whose southern extremity is the Rock of Gibraltar, virtually connects with North Africa to seal off the Atlantic. Italy bisects the central Mediterranean and with the Balkans creates the Adriatic Sea that lies between these two peninsulas. The Balkan Peninsula, which terminates in the Greek islands of the Aegean, also forms the western shore of the Black Sea. And Asia Minor (Turkey), jutting into the Mediterranean from east to west, controls access to the Black Sea through the Dardanelles. There are a number of substantial islands – Majorca, Corsica, Sicily, Crete, Cyprus and Rhodes – although Malta, which is smaller than any of these is, arguably, of the greatest potential strategic importance. The mild climate of the Mediterranean Sea encouraged settlement and the growth of a number of early civilizations on its shores. The Aegean Sea at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, lying between Greece and Turkey and extending as far south as Crete, provides immediate access to the Dardanelles and the Sea of Marmara leading to the Black Sea, although it is an integral part of the Mediterranean. The term “Levant” refers to the countries at the eastern end of the Mediterranean: it has been used in reference to the Venetians, the ancient trading cities of Tyre and Sidon on the Lebanese coast, Syria, Asia Minor and sometimes Egypt.
