Western Mediterranean

Mediterranean Sea
Map of the Mediterranean Sea
Coordinates	35°N 18°E / 35°N 18°E / 35; 18Coordinates: 35°N 18°E / 35°N 18°E / 35; 18
Type	Sea
Primary inflows	Atlantic, Sea of Marmara, Nile, Ebro, Rhône, Chelif, Po
Basin countries	about 60  Abkhazia (independence disputed, claimed by Georgia) Albania Algeria Andorra Austria Belarus Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Burundi Chad Republic of the Congo Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Egypt Eritrea Ethiopia France Georgia Germany Gibraltar (UK) Greece Hungary Israel Italy Kenya Kosovo (independence disputed, claimed by Serbia) Lebanon Libya Liechtenstein Macedonia Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Morocco Niger Northern Cyprus (independence disputed, claimed by Cyprus) Poland Romania Russia Rwanda San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia South Ossetia (independence disputed, claimed by Georgia) South Sudan Spain Sudan Switzerland Syria Tanzania Transnistria (independence disputed, claimed by Moldova) Tunisia Turkey Uganda Ukraine Vatican City
Surface area	2,500,000 km2 (970,000 sq mi)
Average depth	1,500 m (4,900 ft)
Max. depth	5,267 m (17,280 ft)
Water volume	3,750,000 km3 (900,000 cu mi)
Residence time	80-100 years
Islands	3300+
Settlements	Alexandria, Algiers, Athens, Barcelona, Beirut, Carthage, Dubrovnik, İzmir, Rome, Split, Tangier, Tel Aviv, Tripoli, Tunis (full list)

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The sea is sometimes considered a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it is usually identified as a separate body of water.

The name Mediterranean is derived from the Latin mediterraneus, meaning "inland" or "in the middle of land" (from medius, "middle" and terra, "land"). It covers an approximate area of 2.5 million km² (965,000 sq mi), but its connection to the Atlantic (the Strait of Gibraltar) is only 14 km (8.7 mi) wide. The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Gibraltar and Spain in Europe from Morocco in Africa. In oceanography, it is sometimes called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea or the European Mediterranean Sea to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere.

The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 1,500 m (4,900 ft) and the deepest recorded point is 5,267 m (17,280 ft) in the Calypso Deep in the Ionian Sea. The sea is bordered on the north by Europe, the east by Asia, and in the south by Africa. It is located between latitudes 30° and 46° N and longitudes 6° W and 36° E. Its west-east length, from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Gulf of Iskenderun, on the southwestern coast of Turkey, is approximately 4,000 km (2,500 miles). The sea's average north-south length, from Croatia’s southern shore to Libya, is approximately 800 km (500 miles). The Mediterranean Sea, including the Sea of Marmara (connected by the Dardanelles to the Aegean Sea), has a surface area of approximately 2,510,000 square km (970,000 square miles).