Aegean Sea
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2008-07-08T22:25:54Z
DIEGO RICARDO PEREIRA
821392
{{for|the ship ''Aegean Sea''|Aegean Sea (oil spill)}}
{{unreferenced|date=December 2007}}
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The '''Aegean Sea''' {{lang-el|Αιγαίο Πέλαγος}}({{Audio-IPA|lang=Greek|Ell-Aigaio Pelagos.ogg|[''Aigaío Pélagos'']}}); {{lang-tr|Ege Denizi}}, ''Adalar Denizi'') is elongate embayment of the [[Mediterranean Sea]] located between the southern [[Balkans|Balkan]] and [[Anatolia]]n [[peninsula]]s, i.e., between the mainlands of [[Greece]] and [[Turkey]] respectively. In the north, it is connected to the [[Marmara Sea]] and [[Black Sea]] by the [[Dardanelles]] and [[Bosporus]]. The [[Aegean Islands]] are within the sea and some bound it on its southern periphery, including [[Crete]] and [[Rhodes]]. The [[Aegean Region, Turkey|Aegean Region]] consists of nine provinces in southwestern Turkey, in part bordering on the Aegean sea.
The sea was traditionally known as ''[[Archipelago]]'' (in [[Ancient Greek|Greek]], ''Αρχιπέλαγος''), the general sense of which has since changed to refer to the Aegean Islands and, generally, to any island group because the Aegean Sea is remarkable for its large number of islands.
==Etymology==
In ancient times there were various explanations for the name ''Aegean''. It was said to have been named after the Greek town of [[Aegae]], or after [[Aegea]], a queen of the [[Amazons]] who died in the sea, or Aigaion, the "sea goat", another name of [[Briareus]], one of the archaic [[Hecatonchires]], or, especially among the Athenians, [[Aegeus]], the father of [[Theseus]], who drowned himself in the sea when he thought his son had died.
A possible etymology is a derivation from the Greek word ''{{Polytonic|αἶγες}}'' – ''aiges'' = "''waves''" ([[Hesychius of Alexandria|Hesychius]] [[Alexandria|of Alexandria]]; metaphorical use of {{Polytonic|αἴξ}} (''aix'') "goat"), hence "wavy sea", cf. also {{Polytonic|αἰγιαλός}} (aigialos) "coast".
In the [[Bulgarian language]] the sea is also known as ''White sea'' (''Бяло море''). According to legend, Bulgarian sailors and merchants in the [[Middle Ages]] found it a hospitable and timid sea to travel and called it ''White sea'' in contrast to the hostile and dangerous [[Black sea]].
==History==
''[[Aegean civilization]]'' is a general term for the [[Bronze Age]] civilizations of [[Greece]] and the Aegean Sea. In ancient times the sea was the birthplace of two ancient civilizations{{ndash}} the [[Minoan civilization|Minoans]] of [[Crete]] and the [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenean]] Civilization of the [[Peloponnese]].<ref>Tracey Cullen, ''Aegean Prehistory: A Review'' (American Journal of Archaeology. Supplement, 1); Oliver Dickinson, ''The Aegean Bronze Age'' (Cambridge World Archaeology).</ref>
Later arose the city-states of [[Athens]] and [[Sparta]] among many others that constituted the [[Athenian Empire]] and [[Hellenic Civilization]]. Plato described the Greeks living round the Aegean "like frogs around a pond".<ref>The familiar phrase giving rise to the title ''Prehistorians Round the Pond: Reflections on Aegean Prehistory as a Discipline'', by John F. Cherry, Despina Margomenou, and Lauren E. Talalay.</ref> The Aegean Sea was later invaded by the [[Persian Empire|Persians]] and the [[Roman Republic|Romans]], and inhabited by the [[Byzantine Empire]], the [[Venice|Venetians]], the [[Seljuk Turks]], and the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The Aegean was the site of the original [[democracy|democracies]], and its seaways were the means of contact among several diverse civilizations of the Eastern Mediterranean. It is also the location of the wreck of the [[HMHS Britannic]] which sank on [[November 21]] [[1916]] during [[World War I]].
==Economical and Political Setting==
Many of the islands in the Aegean have safe harbours and bays, but navigation through the sea is generally difficult. Many of the islands are [[Volcano|volcanic]], and [[marble]] and [[iron]] are mined on other islands. The larger islands have some fertile valleys and plains. In the Aegean Sea there are two islands belonging to [[Turkey]]: [[Bozcaada]] (in [[Greek language|Greek]], ''[[Tenedos|Τένεδος]]'') and [[Gökçeada]] (in Greek, ''[[Imbros|Ίμβρος]]''), while the rest belonging to [[Greece]]. The Aegean Sea has about 1,415 islands and islets, of which 1,395 belong to Greece.
==Physiographic Setting==
[[Image:Aegeansea.jpg|thumb|left|The Aegean Sea from [[Satellite|space]]]]
The Aegean Sea covers about 214,000 km² in area, and measures about 610 kilometres longitudinally and 300 kilometres latitudinally. The sea's maximum depth is 3,543 metres (11,624 ft), east of [[Crete]]. The [[Aegean Islands]] are found within its waters, with the following islands delimiting the sea on the south (generally from west to east): [[Kythera]], [[Antikythera]], Crete, [[Kasos]], [[Karpathos]] and [[Rhodes]].
The Greek Aegean Islands can be simply divided into seven groups:
##[[List of Aegean Islands#The Northern Aegean Islands|Northeastern Aegean Islands]],
##[[Euboea]],
##Northern [[Sporades]],
##[[Cyclades]],
##[[Saronic Islands]] (or ''[[Argo-Saronic Islands]]''),
##[[Dodecanese]] (or ''Southern Sporades''),
##[[Crete]].
The word ''[[archipelago]]'' was originally applied specifically to the Aegean Sea and its islands. Many of the Aegean Islands, or chains of islands, are actually extensions of the mountains on the mainland. One chain extends across the sea to [[Chios]], another extends across [[Euboea]] to [[Samos Island|Samos]], and a third extends across the [[Peloponnese]] and Crete to [[Rhodes]], dividing the Aegean from the Mediterranean.
The bays and gulfs of the Aegean beginning and the South and moving clockwise include on Crete, the [[Mirabelli Gulf|Mirabelli]], [[Almyros Bay|Almyros]], [[Souda Bay|Souda]] and [[Gulf of Chania|Chania]] bays or gulfs, on the mainland the [[Myrtoan Sea]] to the west, the [[Saronic Gulf]] northwestward, the [[Petalies Gulf]] which connects with the [[Gulf of Euboea|South Euboic Sea]], the [[Pagasetic Gulf]] which connects with the [[Gulf of Euboea|North Euboic Sea]], the [[Thermian Gulf]] northwestward, the [[Chalkidiki]] Peninsula including the [[Cassandra Gulf|Cassandra]] and the [[Singitic Gulf]]s, northward the [[Strymonian Gulf]] and the [[Gulf of Kavala]] and the rest are in [[Turkey]]; [[Saros Gulf]], [[Edremit]] Gulf, Dikili Gulf, Çandarlı Gulf, [[İzmir]] Gulf, [[Kuşadası]] Gulf, [[Gulf of Gökova]], [[Güllük]] Gulf.
==Hydrographic and Hydrochemical Setting==
Aegean surface water circulates in a counter-clockwise gyre, with [[hypersaline]] Mediterranean water moving northward along the west coast of [[Turkey]], before being displaced by less dense [[Black Sea]] outflow. The dense [[Mediterranean]] water sinks below the Black Sea inflow to a depth of 23-30m, then flows through the [[Dardanelles Strait]] and into the [[Marmara]] at velocities of 5-15 cm/s. The Black Sea outflow moves westward along the northern Aegean Sea, then flows southwards along the east coast of Greece<ref>Aksu, A. E., D. Yasar, et al. (1995). "LATE GLACIAL-HOLOCENE PALEOCLIMATIC AND PALEOCEANOGRAPHIC EVOLUTION OF THE AEGEAN SEA - MICROPALEONTOLOGICAL AND STABLE ISOTOPIC EVIDENCE." Marine Micropaleontology 25(1): 1-28.</ref>.
The physical oceanography of the Aegean Sea is controlled mainly by the regional climate, the fresh water discharge from major rivers draining southeastern Europe, and the seasonal variations in the Black Sea surface water outflow through the [[Dardanelles Strait]].
Analysis<ref>Yagar, D., 1994. Late glacial-Holocene evolution of the Aegean Sea. Ph.D. Thesis, Inst. Mar. Sci. Technol., Dokuz Eyltil Univ., 329 pp. (Unpubl.)</ref> of the Aegean during 1991 and 1992 revealed 3 distinct water masses:
*'''Aegean Sea Surface Water''' - 40-50 m thick veneer, with summer temperatures of 21-26°C and winter temperatures ranging from 10°C in the north to 16°C in the south.
*'''Aegean Sea Intermediate Water''' - Aegean Sea Intermediate Water extends from 40-50 m to 200-300 m with temperatures ranging from 11-18°C.
*'''Aegean Sea Bottom Water''' - occurring at depths below 200-300 m with a very uniform temperature (13-14°C) and salinity (39.1-39.2%).
==See also==
{{Wikisource1911Enc|Aegean Sea}}
*[[Aegean civilization]]
*[[Aegean dispute]]
*[[Aegean Islands]]
*[[Aegean languages]]
*[[List of traditional Greek place names]]
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
{{Ancient Greece topics}}
{{Aegean Sea}}
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[[Category:Marginal seas of the Mediterranean]]
[[Category:Seas]]
[[Category:Landforms of Greece]]
[[Category:Landforms of Turkey]]
[[ar:بحر إيجة]]
[[ast:Mar Exéu]]
[[az:Egey dənizi]]
[[be:Эгейскае мора]]
[[br:Mor Egea]]
[[bg:Егейско море]]
[[ca:Mar Egea]]
[[cv:Эгей тинĕсĕ]]
[[cs:Egejské moře]]
[[cy:Môr Aegeaidd]]
[[da:Ægæiske Hav]]
[[de:Ägäisches Meer]]
[[et:Egeuse meri]]
[[el:Αιγαίο Πέλαγος]]
[[es:Mar Egeo]]
[[eo:Egea Maro]]
[[eu:Egeo itsasoa]]
[[fa:دریای اژه]]
[[fr:Mer Égée]]
[[gl:Mar Exeo]]
[[ko:에게 해]]
[[hr:Egejsko more]]
[[id:Laut Aegea]]
[[is:Eyjahaf]]
[[it:Mar Egeo]]
[[he:הים האגאי]]
[[jv:Segara Aegea]]
[[ka:ეგეოსის ზღვა]]
[[ku:Deryaya Ege]]
[[la:Mare Aegaeum]]
[[lv:Egejas jūra]]
[[lt:Egėjo jūra]]
[[hu:Égei-tenger]]
[[mt:Baħar Eġew]]
[[nl:Egeïsche Zee]]
[[ja:エーゲ海]]
[[no:Egeerhavet]]
[[oc:Mar Egèa]]
[[pl:Morze Egejskie]]
[[pt:Mar Egeu]]
[[crh:Ege deñizi]]
[[ro:Marea Egee]]
[[ru:Эгейское море]]
[[sq:Deti Egje]]
[[scn:Mari Eggeu]]
[[sk:Egejské more]]
[[sl:Egejsko morje]]
[[sr:Егејско море]]
[[sh:Egejsko more]]
[[fi:Aigeianmeri]]
[[sv:Egeiska havet]]
[[th:ทะเลอีเจียน]]
[[tr:Ege Denizi]]
[[uk:Егейське море]]
[[ur:بحیرہ ایجیئن]]
[[vec:Mar Egeo]]
[[yi:אגאישער ים]]
[[zh:爱琴海]]