Cruises Mediterranean

Cruises Mediterranean

Some people may like to take cruises to the coastline and sea of the Mediterranean region. Some may want to see the culture, history, sports, tourist attractions and society of the region. Some may want to see the ports and settlements of the region. Some may want to cruise the coastline by large ocean liner o small ocean liner. Some may want to cruise luxury or cheap ocean liners. Some may want to see the wildlife and landscapes of the coast. Some may want to see the ports and villages that dot the coastline.

Some may want to cruise the coastline of the Mediterranean to see the culture and landscapes of the coastal regions. Some may want to tour the western or eastern region.

The Mediterranean Sea is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by the Strait of Gibraltar on the west and to the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea, by the Dardanelles and the Bosporus respectively, on the east. The Sea of Marmara is often considered a part of the Mediterranean Sea, whereas the Black Sea is generally not. The 163 km long man made Suez Canal in the southeast connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.

Large islands in the Mediterranean include Cyprus, Crete, Euboea, Rhodes, Lesbos, Chios, Kefalonia and Corfu in the eastern Mediterranean; Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, and Malta in the central Mediterranean; and Ibiza, Majorca and Minorca (the Balearic Islands) in the western Mediterranean.

The climate is typical Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. Crops of the region include olives, grapes, oranges, tangerines, and cork.

Twenty-one modern states have a coastline on the Mediterranean Sea. They are:

Europe (from west to east): Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece and the European part of Turkey.
Asia (from north to south): Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and the Asian part of Egypt.
Africa (from east to west): Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.

Turkey sits mainly in Asia and partially in Europe. Egypt is mainly in Africa but its Sinai peninsula lies in Asia.

Several other territories also border the Mediterranean Sea (from west to east):

The British overseas territory of Gibraltar
The Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla and nearby islands
The British sovereign base area of Akrotiri and Dhekelia
The Palestinian territories

Andorra, Jordan, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia and the Vatican City, although they do not border the sea, are often considered Mediterranean countries in a wider sense due to their Mediterranean climate, fauna and flora, and/or their cultural affinity with other Mediterranean countries.

Major cities bordering the Mediterranean Sea include Malaga, Valencia, Barcelona, Marseille, Nice, Venice, Genoa, Naples, Bari, Palermo, Messina, Split, Athens, Istanbul, Izmir, Antalya, Lattakia, Beirut, Tel Aviv, Port Said, Damietta, Alexandria, Benghazi, Tripoli, Tunis, and Algiers.

Eastern Mediterranean

In middle Miocene times, the collision between the Arabian microplate and Eurasia led to the separation between the Tethys and the Indian Oceans. This process determined profound changes in the oceanic circulation patterns, which shifted global climates towards colder conditions. The Hellenic Arc, which has a land-locked configuration, underwent a widespread extension for the last 20 Myr due to a slab roll-back process. In addition, the Hellenic Arc experienced a rapid rotation phase during the Pleistocene, with a counterclockwise component in its eastern portion and a clockwise trend in the western segment.

Central Mediterranean

The opening of small oceanic basins of the central Mediterranean follows a trench migration and back-arc opening process that occurred during the last 30 Myr. This phase was characterized by the counterclockwise rotation of the Corsica-Sardinia block, which lasted until the Langhian (ca.16 Ma), and was in turn followed by a slab detachment along the northern African margin. Subsequently, a shift of this active extentional deformation led to the opening of the Tyrrenian basin.

Western Mediterranean

Since Mesozoic to Tertiary times, during convergence between Africa and Iberia, it developed the Betic-Rif mountain belts. Tectonic models for its evolution include: rapid motion of Alboran microplate, subduction zone and radial extentional collapse caused by convective removal of lithosferic mantle. The development of these intramontane Betic and Rif basins led to the onset of two marine gateways which were progressively closed during the late Miocene by an interplay of tectonic and glacio-eustatic processes.

The history of the Mediterranean region is the history of the interaction of the cultures and people of the lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea —the central superhighway of transport, trade and cultural exchange between diverse peoples. Its history is important to understanding the origin and development of the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Persian, Phoenician, Jewish, Greek, Roman, Arab and Turkish cultures — and hence is important to understanding the development of Western civilization as we understand it today.

The growing naval prowess of the European powers confronted further rapid Ottoman expansion in the region when the Battle of Lepanto checked the power of the Ottoman navy. However, as Braudel argued forcefully, this only slowed the Ottoman expansion instead of ending it. The prized island of Cyprus became Ottoman in 1571. The last resistance in Tunisia ended in 1574 and almost a generation long siege in Crete pushed Venetians out of this strategic island in 1669. A balance of power was then established between Spain and Ottoman Empire until 18th century, each dominating their respective half of Mediterranean, reducing Italian navies as naval powers increasingly more irrelevant. Furthermore, the Ottoman Empire had succeeded in their objective of extending Muslim rule across the North African coast.

The development of oceanic shipping began to affect the entire Mediterranean, however. While once all trade from the east had passed through the region, the circumnavigation of Africa allowed gold, spices, and dyes to be imported directly to the Atlantic ports of western Europe. The Americas were also a source of extreme wealth to the western powers, from which some of the Mediterranean states were largely cut off. The base of European power thus shifted northward and the once wealthy Italy became a peripheral area dominated by foreigners. The Ottoman Empire also began a slow decline that saw its North African possessions gain de facto independence and its European holdings gradually reduced by the increasing power of Austria and Russia.
Greatest extent of Italian control of the Mediterranean littoral and seas (within green line & dots) in summer/fall 1942. Allied controlled areas in red.

By the nineteenth century the European States were vastly more powerful, and began to colonize North Africa. France spread its power south by taking Algeria in 1830 and later Tunisia. Britain gained control of Egypt in 1882 . Italy conquered Libya from the Ottomans in 1911. The Ottoman Empire finally collapsed in the First World War, and its holdings were carved up among France and Britain, but the Turkish regions quickly regained their independence, becoming the independent state of Turkey in 1922. During the first half of the twentieth century the Mediterranean was at the center of the expansion of the Kingdom of Italy, and was one of the main areas of battle during WWII between the Axis and the Allies.

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Cruises Mediterranean

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