Aegean Sea

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Coordinates: 39°N 25°E / 39°N 25°E / 39; 25
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the oil tanker Aegean Sea, see
Aegean Sea oil spill. For the theme of the Byzantine Empire, see Aegean Sea (theme)
.

Aegean Sea
Alexandroupoli, Athens, Ayvalık, Bodrum, Çanakkale, Çeşme, Didim, Heraklion, İzmir, Kavala, Kuşadası, Thessaloniki, Volos
The extent of the Aegean Sea on a map of the Mediterranean Sea

The Aegean Sea

Bosphorus, respectively. The Aegean Islands are located within the sea and some bound it on its southern periphery, including Crete and Rhodes. The sea reaches a maximum depth of 2,639 m (8,658 ft) to the west of Karpathos. The Thracian Sea and the Sea of Crete
are main subdivisions of the Aegean Sea.

The Aegean Islands can be divided into several island groups, including the Dodecanese, the Cyclades, the Sporades, the Saronic islands and the North Aegean Islands, as well as Crete and its surrounding islands. The Dodecanese, located to the southeast, includes the islands of Rhodes, Kos, and Patmos; the islands of Delos and Naxos are within the Cyclades to the south of the sea. Lesbos is part of the North Aegean Islands. Euboea, the second-largest island in Greece, is located in the Aegean, despite being administered as part of Central Greece. Nine out of twelve of the Administrative regions of Greece border the sea, along with the Turkish provinces of Edirne, Çanakkale, Balıkesir, İzmir, Aydın and Muğla to the east of the sea. Various Turkish islands in the sea are Imbros, Tenedos, Cunda Island, and the Foça Islands.

The Aegean Sea has been historically important, especially regarding the civilization of Ancient Greece, who inhabited the area around the coast of the Aegean and the Aegean islands. The Aegean islands facilitated contact between the people of the area and between Europe and Asia. Along with the Greeks, Thracians lived among the northern coast. The Romans conquered the area under the Roman Empire, and later the Byzantine Empire held it against advances by the First Bulgarian Empire. The Fourth Crusade weakened Byzantine control of the area, and it was eventually conquered by the Ottoman Empire, with the exception of Crete, which was a Venetian colony until 1669. The Greek War of Independence allowed a Greek state on the coast of the Aegean from 1829 onwards. The Ottoman Empire held a presence over the sea for over 500 years until it was replaced by modern Turkey.

The rocks making up the floor of the Aegean are mainly limestone, though often greatly altered by volcanic activity that has convulsed the region in relatively recent geologic times. Of particular interest are the richly coloured sediments in the region of the islands of Santorini and Milos, in the south Aegean.[3] Notable cities on the Aegean coastline include Athens, Thessaloniki, Volos, Kavala and Heraklion in Greece, and İzmir and Bodrum in Turkey.

A number of issues concerning sovereignty within the Aegean Sea are disputed between Greece and Turkey. The

national airspace, exclusive economic zones and flight information regions.[4]

Name and etymology

The name Aegaeus, used by Late Latin authors, referred to Aegeus, who was said to have jumped into that sea to drown himself (rather than throw himself from the Athenian acropolis, as told by some Greek authors). He was the father of Theseus, the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. Aegeus had told Theseus to put up white sails when returning if he was successful in killing the Minotaur. When Theseus returned, he forgot these instructions, and Aegeus thought his son had died, so he drowned himself in the sea.[5]

The sea was known in

Serbo-Croatian: Belo more / Бело море).[6] The Turkish
name for the sea is Ege Denizi, which is derived from the Greek name, and 'Adalar Denizi' meaning "the sea of islands".

Geography

The Aegean Sea is an elongated

Kythera, Antikythera, Crete, Kasos, Karpathos and Rhodes. The Anatolian peninsula marks the eastern boundary of the sea, while the Greek mainland marks the west. Several seas are contained within the Aegean Sea; the Thracian Sea is a section of the Aegean located to the north, the Icarian Sea to the east, the Myrtoan Sea to the west, while the Sea of Crete
is the southern section.

The Greek regions that border the sea, in alphabetical order, are Attica, Central Greece, Central Macedonia, Crete, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, North Aegean, Peloponnese, South Aegean, and Thessaly. The traditional Greek region of Macedonia also borders the sea, to the north.

The Aegean Islands, which almost all belong to Greece, can be divided into seven groups:

  1. Northeastern Aegean Islands, which lie in the Thracian Sea[7]
  2. East Aegean Islands (Euboea)
  3. Northern Sporades
  4. Cyclades
  5. Saronic Islands (or Argo-Saronic Islands)
  6. Dodecanese (or Southern Sporades)[8]
  7. Crete

Many of the Aegean islands or island chains, are geographical extensions of the mountains on the mainland. One chain extends across the sea to Chios, another extends across Euboea to 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 at the South and moving clockwise include on Crete, the

Edremit Gulf, Dikili Gulf, Gulf of Çandarlı, Gulf of İzmir, Gulf of Kuşadası, Gulf of Gökova, Güllük
Gulf.

The Aegean Sea is connected to the Sea of Marmara by the

Turkish Straits
.

Extent

According to the International Hydrographic Organization, the limits of the Aegean Sea as follows:[9]

Hydrography

Aegean surface water circulates in a counterclockwise

Dardanelles Strait and into the Sea of Marmara at velocities of 5–15 cm/s (2–6 in/s). The Black Sea outflow moves westward along the northern Aegean Sea, then flows southwards along the east coast of Greece.[10]

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[11] of the Aegean during 1991 and 1992 revealed three distinct water masses:

  • Aegean Sea Surface Water – 40–50 metres (130–160 ft) thick veneer, with summer temperatures of 21–26 °C and winter temperatures ranging from 10 °C (50 °F) in the north to 16 °C (61 °F) in the south.
  • Aegean Sea Intermediate Water – Aegean Sea Intermediate Water extends from 40 to 50 m to 200–300 metres (660–980 ft) with temperatures ranging from 11 to 18 °C.
  • Aegean Sea Bottom Water – occurring at depths below 500–1000 m with a very uniform temperature (13–14 °C) and salinity (3.91–3.92%).

Climate

Climate map of Greece. Most of the landmass surrounding the Aegean sea is classified as Csa, with the northern region being BSk.

The climate of the Aegean Sea largely reflects the climate of Greece and Western Turkey, which is to say, predominantly Mediterranean. According to the Köppen climate classification, most of the Aegean is classified as Hot-summer Mediterranean (Csa), with hotter and drier summers along with milder and wetter winters. However, high temperatures during summers are generally not quite as high as those in arid or semiarid climates due to the presence of a large body of water. This is most predominant in the west and east coasts of the Aegean, and within the Aegean islands. In the north of the Aegean Sea, the climate is instead classified as Cold semi-arid (BSk), which feature cooler summers than Hot-summer Mediterranean climates. The Etesian winds are a dominant weather influence in the Aegean Basin.

The below table lists climate conditions of some major Aegean cities:

Climate characteristics of some major cities on the Aegean coast
City Mean temperature (daily high) Mean total rainfall
January July January July
°C °F °C °F mm in days mm in days
Alexandroupoli
 8.4 47.1 30.1 86.2 60.4 2.38 6.8 17.6 0.69 2.5
Bodrum 15.1 59.2 34.2 93.6 134.1 5.28 12.3 1.3 0.05 1.5
Heraklion 15.2 59.4 28.6 83.5 91.5 3.6 10.1 1.0 0.04 0.1
İzmir 12.4 54.3 33.2 91.8 132.7 5.22 12.6 1.7 0.07 0.4
Thessaloniki 9.3 48.7 32.5 90.5 35.2 1.39 8.8 27.3 1.07 3.8
Source: World Meteorological Organization,[12] Turkish State Meteorological Service[13]

Population

Numerous Greek and Turkish settlements are located along their mainland coast, as well as on towns on the Aegean islands. The largest cities are Athens and Thessaloniki in Greece and İzmir in Turkey. The most populated of the Aegean islands is Crete, followed by Euboea and Rhodes.

Most populous urban areas on the Aegean coast

Athens

Thessaloniki

Rank City Country Region/County Population (urban)

İzmir

Heraklion

1 Athens Greece Central Greece 3,090,508
2 İzmir Turkey İzmir Province 2,947,000
3 Thessaloniki Greece Macedonia 824,676
4 Heraklion Greece Crete 173,993
5 Volos Greece Thessaly 144,449
6 Çanakkale Turkey Çanakkale Province 111,137
7 Chania Greece Crete 108,642
8 Rhodes (city) Greece South Aegean 86,199
9
Alexandroupoli
 Greece Western Thrace 72,959
10 Kavala Greece Macedonia 70,501

Biogeography and ecology

Protected areas

Greece has established several marine protected areas along its coasts. According to the Network of Managers of Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean (MedPAN), four Greek MPAs are participating in the Network. These include Alonnisos Marine Park, while the Missolonghi–Aitoliko Lagoons and the island of Zakynthos are not on the Aegean.[14]

History

Ancient history

Female figure from Naxos (2800-2300 BC)

The current coastline dates back to about 4000 BC. Before that time, at the peak of the

last ice age (about 18,000 years ago) sea levels everywhere were 130 metres lower, and there were large well-watered coastal plains instead of much of the northern Aegean. When they were first occupied, the present-day islands including Milos with its important obsidian production were probably still connected to the mainland. The present coastal arrangement appeared around 9,000 years ago, with post-ice age sea levels continuing to rise for another 3,000 years after that.[15]

The subsequent Bronze Age civilizations of Greece and the Aegean Sea have given rise to the general term Aegean civilization. In ancient times, the sea was the birthplace of two ancient civilizations – the Minoans of Crete and the Myceneans of the Peloponnese.[16]

The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean islands, flourishing from around 3000 to 1450 BC before a period of decline, finally ending at around 1100 BC. It represented the first advanced civilization in Europe, leaving behind massive building complexes, tools, stunning artwork, writing systems, and a massive network of trade.

wanax
.

The civilization of Mycenaean Greeks perished with the collapse of Bronze Age culture in the eastern Mediterranean, to be followed by the so-called Greek Dark Ages. It is undetermined what cause the collapse of the Mycenaeans. During the Greek Dark Ages, writing in the Linear B script ceased, vital trade links were lost, and towns and villages were abandoned.

Ancient Greece

See also: Ancient Greece
A fleet of Athenian trireme
Library of Celsus, a Roman structure in important sea port Ephesus

The

Xerxes II of Persia at the Battle of Salamis. Thus ending any further attempt of western expansion by the Achaemenid Empire.[18]

The Aegean Sea would later come to be under the control, albeit briefly, of the Kingdom of Macedonia. Philip II and his son Alexander the Great led a series of conquests that led not only to the unification of the Greek mainland and the control of the Aegean Sea under his rule, but also the destruction of the Achaemenid Empire. After Alexander the Great's death, his empire was divided among his generals. Cassander became king of the Hellenistic kingdom of Macedon, which held territory along the western coast of the Aegean, roughly corresponding to modern-day Greece. The Kingdom of Lysimachus had control over the sea's eastern coast. Greece had entered the Hellenistic period.

Roman rule

The Macedonian Wars were a series of conflicts fought by the

Achaea, Macedonia, Thracia, Asia and Creta et Cyrenica
(island of Crete)

Medieval period

Emirate of Crete, after early conquest of Arabs

The Fall of the Western Roman Empire allowed its successor state, the Byzantine Empire, to continue Roman control over the Aegean Sea. However, their territory would later be threatened by the Early Muslim conquests initiated by Muhammad in the 7th century. Although the Rashidun Caliphate did not manage to obtain land along the coast of the Aegean sea, its conquest of the Eastern Anatolian peninsula as well as Egypt, the Levant, and North Africa left the Byzantine Empire weakened. The Umayyad Caliphate expanded the territorial gains of the Rashidun Caliphate, conquering much of North Africa, and threatened the Byzantine Empire's control of Western Anatolia, where it meets the Aegean Sea.

During the 820s, Crete was conquered by a group of

Nikephoros Phokas
, who launched a huge campaign against the Emirate of Crete in 960 to 961.

Meanwhile, the

Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria
.

A 1528 map of the Aegean Sea by Turkish geographer Piri Reis

The

Malik Shah I, the empire was divided, and Malik Shah was succeeded in Anatolia by Kilij Arslan I, who founded the Sultanate of Rum
. The Byzantines yet again recaptured the eastern coast of the Aegean.

After

Recapture of Constantinople
from the Latins in 1261 and defeat Epirus. Byzantine successes were not to last; the Ottomans would conquer the area around the Aegean coast, but before their expansion the Byzantine Empire had already been weakened from internal conflict. By the late 14th century the Byzantine Empire had lost all control of the coast of the Aegean Sea and could exercise power around their capital, Constantinople. The Ottoman Empire then gained control of all the Aegean coast with the exception of Crete, which was a Venetian colony until 1669.

Modern Period

WW2

The Greek War of Independence allowed a Greek state on the coast of the Aegean from 1829 onward. The Ottoman Empire held a presence over the sea for over 500 years until its dissolution following World War I, when it was replaced by modern Turkey. During the war, Greece gained control over the area around the northern coast of the Aegean. By the 1930s, Greece and Turkey had about resumed their present-day borders.

In the

Italian Aegean Islands. The German invasion resulted in the Axis occupation of Greece
. The German troops evacuated Athens on 12 October 1944, and by the end of the month, they had withdrawn from mainland Greece. Greece was then liberated by Allied troops.

Economy and politics

Many of the islands in the Aegean have safe harbours and bays. In ancient times, navigation through the sea was easier than travelling across the rough terrain of the Greek mainland, and to some extent, the coastal areas of Anatolia. Many of the islands are volcanic, and marble and iron are mined on other islands. The larger islands have some fertile valleys and plains.

Of the main islands in the Aegean Sea, two belong to Turkey –

delimitation of economic rights to the continental shelf. These issues are known as the Aegean dispute
.

Transport

Multiple ports are located along the Greek and Turkish coasts of the Aegean Sea. The

Aghioi Theodoroi and Thessaloniki.[23]
The central port serves ferry routes to almost every island in the eastern portion of Greece, the island of Crete, the Cyclades, the Dodecanese, and much of the northern and the eastern Aegean Sea, while the western part of the port is used for cargo services.

As of 2007, the Port of Thessaloniki was the second-largest container port in Greece after the port of Piraeus, making it one of the busiest ports in Greece. In 2007, the Port of Thessaloniki handled 14,373,245 tonnes of cargo and 222,824 TEU's. Paloukia, on the island of Salamis, is a major passenger port.

Fishing

Fish are Greece's second-largest agricultural export, and Greece has Europe's largest fishing fleet.[24] Fish captured include sardines, mackerel, grouper, grey mullets, sea bass, and seabream. There is a considerable difference between fish catches between the pelagic and demersal zones;[25] with respect to pelagic fisheries, the catches from the northern, central and southern Aegean area groupings are dominated, respectively, by anchovy, horse mackerels, and boops. For demersal fisheries, the catches from the northern and southern Aegean area groupings are dominated by grey mullets and pickerel (Spicara smaris) respectively.

The industry has been impacted by the Great Recession.[clarification needed] Overfishing and habitat destruction is also a concern, threatening grouper, and seabream populations, resulting in perhaps a 50% decline of fish catch.[26] To address these concerns, Greek fishermen have been offered a compensation by the government. Although some species are defined as protected or threatened under EU legislation, several illegal species such as the molluscs Pinna nobilis, Charonia tritonis and Lithophaga lithophaga, can be bought in restaurants and fish markets around Greece.[27]

Tourism

Tourists in the town of Mykonos, part of the Cyclades

The Aegean islands within the Aegean Sea are significant tourist destinations. Tourism to the Aegean islands contributes a significant portion of tourism in Greece, especially since the second half of the 20th century.[28] A total of five UNESCO World Heritage sites are located the Aegean Islands; these include the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian and the Cave of the Apocalypse on Patmos,[29] the Pythagoreion and Heraion of Samos in Samos,[30] the Nea Moni of Chios,[31] the island of Delos,[32] and the Medieval City of Rhodes.[33]

Greece is one of the most visited countries in Europe and the world with over 33 million visitors in 2018,[34] and the tourism industry around a quarter of Greece's Gross Domestic Product.[35] The islands of Santorini, Crete, Lesbos, Delos, and Mykonos are common tourist destinations. An estimated 2 million tourists visit Santorini annually.[36] However, concerns relating to overtourism have arisen in recent years, such as issues of inadequate infrastructure and overcrowding.[37] Alongside Greece, Turkey has also been successful in developing resort areas and attracting large number of tourists,[38] contributing to tourism in Turkey. The phrase "Blue Cruise" refers to recreational voyages along the Turkish Riviera, including across the Aegean.[39] The ancient city of Troy, a World Heritage Site, is on the Turkish coast of the Aegean.[40]

Greece and Turkey both take part in the Blue Flag beach certification programme of the Foundation for Environmental Education. The certification is awarded for beaches and marinas meeting strict quality standards including environmental protection, water quality, safety and services criteria.[41] As of 2015, the Blue Flag has been awarded to 395 beaches and 9 marinas in Greece. Southern Aegean beaches on the Turkish coast include Muğla, with 102 beaches awarded with the blue flag, along with İzmir and Aydın, who have 49 and 30 beaches awarded respectively.[42][43]

See also

References

  1. ^ /iˈdʒiːən/, ih-JEE-ən; Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος, romanized: Eyéo Pélagos [eˈʝeo ˈpelaɣos] ⓘ; Turkish: Ege Denizi [eˈɟe deniˈzi]
  1. ^ "Drainage Basin of the Mediterranean Sea" (PDF). Second Assessment of Ocean (Report). UNECE. November 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022.
  2. ^ "EMODnet Digital Bathymetry (DTM)". European Union. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Aegean Sea | Mediterranean Sea". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  4. ^ "The Greco -Turkish dispute over the Aegean Sea - Indian Council of World Affairs (Government of India)". www.icwa.in. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  5. ^ Hyginus, Fab. 43; Serv. Verg. A. 3.74; Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini, ed. Bode, i. p. 117 (Second Vatican Mythographer 125).
  6. ^ Zbornik Matice srpske za društvene nauke: (1961), Volumes 28–31, p.74 (in Serbian)
  7. ^ "Aegean Sea | Mediterranean Sea". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  8. ^ Administratively, the Greek Dodecanese also contains Kastellorizo, situated further east outside the Aegean proper.
  9. ^ "Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd edition" (PDF). International Hydrographic Organization. 1953. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  10. doi:10.1016/0377-8398(94)00026-J
    .
  11. ^ Yagar, D., 1994. Late glacial-Holocene evolution of the Aegean Sea. Ph.D. Thesis, Inst. Mar. Sci. Technol., Dokuz Eyltil Univ., 329 pp. (Unpubl.)[unreliable source?]
  12. ^ "World Weather Information Service – Europe". worldweather.wmo.int. Archived from the original on 25 November 2005. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  13. ^ "Resmi İstatistikler: İllerimize Ait Genel İstatistik Verileri" (in Turkish). Turkish State Meteorological Service. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  14. ^ "MPAtlas » Greece". www.mpatlas.org. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  15. JSTOR 529681
    .
  16. ^ Tracey Cullen, Aegean Prehistory: A Review (American Journal of Archaeology. Supplement, 1); Oliver Dickinson, The Aegean Bronze Age (Cambridge World Archaeology).
  17. doi:10.1093/obo/9780195389661-0071. Archived
    from the original on 17 June 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
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  20. ^ "Piraeus by Maritime Database". www.maritime-database.com. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  21. ^ "ANEK Lines – Piraeus". www.anek.gr. Archived from the original[permanent dead link] on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2008.
  22. ^ "Container terminal". www.olp.gr. Archived from the original Archived 20 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine on 20 December 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2008.
  23. ^ "Maritime transport – Goods (gross weight) – Annual data – All ports – by direction". Eurostat. 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2011. [verification needed]
  24. ISSN 0099-9660
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  25. doi:10.1016/0165-7836(94)90078-7
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  26. ^ "As stocks deplete, Greek fishermen scrap boats and livelihoods". Reuters. 3 July 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  27. ^ "Fisheries". Archipelagos. Archived from the original on 15 June 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  28. ISBN 1845413733
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  29. ^ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "The Historic Centre (Chorá) with the Monastery of Saint-John the Theologian and the Cave of the Apocalypse on the Island of Pátmos". whc.unesco.org. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  30. ^ "Pythagoreion and Heraion of Samos". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  31. ^ "Monasteries of Daphni, Hosios Loukas and Nea Moni of Chios". UNESCO. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  32. ^ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "Delos". whc.unesco.org. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  33. ^ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "Medieval City of Rhodes". whc.unesco.org. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  34. ^ "Tourism Ministry statistics impress". Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  35. ^ "Αλέξανδρος Βασιλικός: Ο τουρισμός είναι υπόθεση όλων μας". Marketing Greece. 5 February 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  36. ISSN 0261-3077
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  37. ^ Smith, Oliver (6 June 2018). "Overwhelmed: Greece the latest country to be overrun by tourists". Traveller. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  38. S2CID 154452680
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  39. ISSN 0362-4331
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  40. ^ "Archaeological Site of Troy". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  41. ^ "FEE – Foundation for Environmental Education". 15 August 2008. Archived from the original on 15 August 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  42. ^ "Blue Flag Beaches in Turkey | Go Turkey Tourism". www.goturkeytourism.com. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  43. doi:10.1016/j.gexplo.2017.01.003
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External links
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