ABSTRACT
The geographical Mediterranean region is a complex entity, which consists of 23 seaside
states with about 600 cities, 46,000km of coastline, more than 450 million inhabitants in
2005, 7.2 per cent of the world population, 9 per cent of total energy supply, 10 per cent
of electricity consumption and 8 per cent of CO2 emission (Davı` and Giampaglia, 2007).
This is a complex area, where a first simple partition can be assessed on a
socio-economic basis: the north rim European states and the south and east rim states,
with their transition economies.