TheAegean Sea[a] is an elongated embayment of theMediterranean Sea betweenEurope andAsia. It is located between theBalkans andAnatolia, and covers an area of some 215,000 km2 (83,000 sq mi).[3] In the north, the Aegean is connected to theMarmara Sea, which in turn connects to theBlack Sea, by the straits of theDardanelles and theBosphorus, respectively. TheAegean Islands are located within the sea and some bound it on its southern periphery, includingCrete andRhodes. The sea reaches a maximum depth of 2,639 m (8,658 ft) to the west of Karpathos. TheThracian Sea and theSea of Crete are main subdivisions of the Aegean Sea.
The Aegean Islands can be divided into several island groups, including theDodecanese, theCyclades, theSporades, theSaronic islands and theNorth Aegean Islands, as well as Crete and its surrounding islands. The Dodecanese, located to the southeast, includes the islands of Rhodes,Kos, andPatmos; the islands ofDelos andNaxos 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 ofCentral Greece. Nine out of twelve of the Administrative regions of Greece border the sea, along with theTurkish provinces ofEdirne,Çanakkale,Balıkesir,İzmir,Aydın andMuğla to the east of the sea. Various Turkish islands in the sea areImbros,Tenedos,Cunda Island, and theFoça Islands.
The Aegean Sea has been historically important, especially regarding the civilization ofAncient Greece, which 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 along the northern coasts. TheRomans conquered the area under the Roman Empire, and later theByzantine Empire held it against advances by theFirst Bulgarian Empire. TheFourth Crusade weakened Byzantine control of the area, and it was eventually conquered by theOttoman Empire, with the exception of Crete, which was aVenetian colony until 1669. TheGreek 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 modernTurkey.
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 colored sediments in the region of the islands ofSantorini andMilos, in the south Aegean.[3] Notable cities on the Aegean coastline includeAthens,Thessaloniki,Volos,Kavala, andHeraklion in Greece, andİzmir andBodrum in Turkey.
The nameAegaeus, used byLate Latin authors, referred toAegeus, 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 ofTheseus, the mythical king and founder-hero ofAthens. Aegeus had told Theseus to put up white sails when returning if he was successful in killing theMinotaur. 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 inLatin asMare Aegaeum while under the control of theRoman Empire. TheVenetians, who ruled many Greek islands in theHigh andLate Middle Ages, popularized the nameArchipelago (Greek:αρχιπέλαγος, meaning "main sea" or "chief sea"), a name that held on in many European countries until theearly modern period. InSouth Slavic languages, the Aegean is calledWhite Sea (Bulgarian:Бяло море,romanized: Byalo more;Macedonian:Бело море,romanized: Belo more;Serbo-Croatian:Belo more /Бело море).[6] TheTurkish name for the sea isEge Denizi, which is derived from the Greek name, andAdalar Denizi meaning "Sea of Islands".
The Aegean Sea is an elongatedembayment of theMediterranean Sea and covers about 214,000 square kilometres (83,000 sq mi) in area, measuring about 670 kilometres (420 mi) longitudinally and 390 kilometres (240 mi) latitudinal. The sea's maximum depth is 2,639 metres (8,658 ft), located at a point west ofKarpathos. TheAegean 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 andRhodes. 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; theThracian Sea is a section of the Aegean located to the north, theIcarian Sea to the east, theMyrtoan Sea to the west, while theSea of Crete is the southern section.
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 Aegean Sea is connected to the Sea of Marmara by theDardanelles, also known from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont. The Dardanelles are located to the northeast of the sea. It ultimately connects with theBlack Sea through theBosporus strait, upon which lies the city ofIstanbul. The Dardanelles and the Bosporus are known as theTurkish Straits.
On the south: A line running fromCape Aspro (28°16′E) inAsia Minor, to Cum Burnù (Capo della Sabbia) the Northeast extreme of the Island ofRhodes, through the island to CapePrasonisi, the Southwest point thereof, on to Vrontos Point (35°33′N) in Skarpanto [Karpathos], through this island to Castello Point, the South extreme thereof, across to Cape Plaka (East extremity of Crete), through Crete to Agria Grabusa, the Northwest extreme thereof, thence to Cape Apolytares inAntikythera Island, through the island to Psira Rock (off the Northwest point) and across to Cape Trakhili inKythira Island, through Kythira to the Northwest point (Cape Karavugia) and thence to Cape Santa Maria (36°28′N22°57′E / 36.467°N 22.950°E /36.467; 22.950) in theMorea.
In the Dardanelles: A line joining Kum Kale (26°11′E) andCape Helles.
Aegean surface water circulates in a counterclockwisegyre, withhypersaline Mediterranean water moving northward along the west coast of Turkey, before being displaced by less dense Black Sea outflow. The denseMediterranean water sinks below the Black Sea inflow to a depth of 23–30 metres (75–98 ft), then flows through theDardanelles Strait and into theSea 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 theDardanelles 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 40–50 m (130–160 ft) to 200–300 m (660–980 ft) with temperatures ranging from 11–18 °C (52–64 °F).
Aegean Sea Bottom Water – occurring at depths below 500–1,000 m (1,600–3,300 ft) with a very uniform temperature (13–14 °C (55–57 °F)) and salinity (3.91–3.92%).
Climate map of Greece. Most of the landmass surrounding the Aegean Sea is classified asCsa, with the northern region beingBSk.
The climate of the Aegean Sea largely reflects the climate of Greece and Western Turkey, which is to say, predominantlyMediterranean. According to theKöppen 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 asCold semi-arid(BSk), which feature cooler summers than Hot-summer Mediterranean climates. TheEtesian 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
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.[14]
The current coastline dates back to about 4000 BC. Before that time, at the peak of thelast ice age (about 18,000 years ago) sea levels everywhere were 130 metres (430 ft) 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 includingMilos with its importantobsidian 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.[16]
The subsequentBronze Age civilizations of Greece and the Aegean Sea have given rise to the general termAegean civilization. In ancient times, the sea was the birthplace of two ancient civilizations – theMinoans of Crete and theMycenaeans of thePeloponnese.[17]
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.[18] The Minoan period saw extensive trade between Crete, Aegean, and Mediterranean settlements, particularly the Near East. The most notable Minoan palace is that ofKnossos, followed by that ofPhaistos. The Mycenaean Greeks arose on the mainland, becoming the first advanced civilization in mainland Greece, which lasted from approximately 1600 to 1100 BC. It is believed that the site ofMycenae, which sits close to the Aegean coast, was the center of Mycenaean civilization. The Mycenaeans introduced several innovations in the fields of engineering, architecture and military infrastructure, while trade over vast areas of the Mediterranean, including the Aegean, was essential for the Mycenaean economy. Theirsyllabic script, theLinear B, offers the first written records of the Greek language andtheir religion already included several deities that can also be found in theOlympic Pantheon. Mycenaean Greece was dominated by a warrior elite society and consisted of a network ofpalace-centered states that developed rigid hierarchical, political, social and economic systems. At the head of this society was the king, known aswanax.
The civilization of Mycenaean Greeks perished with thecollapse of Bronze Age culture in the eastern Mediterranean, to be followed by the so-calledGreek 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.
TheArchaic period followed the Greek Dark Ages in the 8th century BC. Greece became divided into small self-governing communities, and adopted thePhoenician alphabet, modifying it to create theGreek alphabet. By the 6th century BC several cities had emerged as dominant in Greek affairs: Athens, Sparta,Corinth, andThebes, of which Athens, Sparta, and Corinth were closest to the Aegean Sea. Each of them had brought the surrounding rural areas and smaller towns under their control, and Athens and Corinth had become major maritime and mercantile powers as well. In the 8th and 7th centuries BC many Greeks migrated to formcolonies inMagna Graecia (Southern Italy andSicily), Asia Minor and further afield. The Aegean Sea was the setting for one of the most pivotal naval engagements in history, when, on 20 September 480 B.C., the Athenian fleet gained a decisive victory over the Persian fleet of theXerxes II of Persia at theBattle of Salamis. Thus ending any further attempt of western expansion by theAchaemenid Empire.[19]
The Aegean Sea would later come to be under the control, albeit briefly, of theKingdom of Macedonia.Philip II and his sonAlexander 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 theAchaemenid 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 ofLysimachus had control over the sea's eastern coast. Greece had entered theHellenistic period.
The Macedonian Wars were a series of conflicts fought by theRoman Republic and its Greek allies in the eastern Mediterranean against several different major Greek kingdoms. They resulted in Roman control or influence over the eastern Mediterranean basin, including the Aegean, in addition to their hegemony in the western Mediterranean after thePunic Wars. During Roman rule, the land around the Aegean Sea fell under the provinces ofAchaea,Macedonia,Thracia,Asia andCreta et Cyrenaica (island of Crete)
Thefall of the Western Roman Empire allowed its successor state, theByzantine Empire, to continue Roman control over the Aegean Sea. However, their territory would later be threatened by theearly Muslim conquests initiated byMuhammad in the 7th century. Although theRashidun 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. TheUmayyad 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 ofBerbersAndalusians exiles led byAbu Hafs Umar al-Iqritishi, and it became an independentIslamic state.[20] The Byzantine Empire launched a campaign that took most of the island back in 842 and 843 underTheoktistos, but the re-conquest was not completed and was soon reversed. Later attempts by the Byzantine Empire to recover the island were without success. For the approximately 135 years of its existence, the emirate of Crete was one of the major foes of Byzantium. Crete commanded the sea lanes of the Eastern Mediterranean and functioned as a forward base and haven for Muslim corsair fleets that ravaged the Byzantine-controlled shores of the Aegean Sea. Crete returned to Byzantine rule underNikephoros II Phokas, who launched a huge campaign against the Emirate of Crete in 960 to 961.[21]
Meanwhile, theBulgarian Empire threatened Byzantine control of Northern Greece and the Aegean coast to the south. UnderPresian and his successorBoris I, the Bulgarian Empire managed to obtain a small portion of the northern Aegean coast.[22]Simeon I of Bulgaria led Bulgaria to its greatest territorial expansion, and managed to conqueror much of the northern and western coasts of the Aegean. The Byzantines later regained control. The Second Bulgarian Empire achieved similar success along, again, the northern and western coasts, underIvan Asen II of Bulgaria.
A 1528 map of the Aegean Sea by Turkish geographerPiri Reis
TheSeljuk Turks, under theSeljuk Empire, invaded the Byzantine Empire in 1068, from which they annexed almost all the territories of Anatolia, including the east coast of the Aegean Sea, during the reign ofAlp Arslan, the secondSultan of the Seljuk Empire. After the death of his successor,Malik Shah I, the empire was divided, and Malik Shah was succeeded in Anatolia byKilij Arslan I, who founded theSultanate of Rum. The Byzantines yet again recaptured the eastern coast of the Aegean.
AfterConstantinople was occupied by Western European and Venetian forces during theFourth Crusade, the area around the Aegean Sea was fragmented into multiple entities, including theLatin Empire, theKingdom of Thessalonica, theEmpire of Nicaea, thePrincipality of Achaea, and theDuchy of Athens. The Venetians created the maritime state of theDuchy of the Archipelago, which included all the Cyclades exceptMykonos andTinos. The Empire of Nicaea, a Byzantine rump state, managed to affect theRecapture 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.
TheGreek 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 itsdissolution followingWorld 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 theItalo-Turkish War of 1912, Italy captured the Dodecanese islands, and had occupied them since, reneging on the 1919Venizelos–Tittoni agreement to cede them to Greece. The Greco-Italian War took place from October 1940 to April 1941 as part of theBalkans Campaign ofWorld War II. The Italian war aim was to establish a Greekpuppet state, which would permit the Italian annexation of the Sporades and Cyclades islands in the Aegean Sea, to be administered as a part of theItalian Aegean Islands. The German invasion resulted in theAxis 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.
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 arevolcanic, 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 –Bozcaada (Tenedos) andGökçeada (Imbros); the rest belong to Greece. Between the two countries, there arepolitical disputes over several aspects of political control over the Aegean space, including the size of territorial waters, air control and thedelimitation of economic rights to thecontinental shelf. These issues are known as theAegean dispute.
Multiple ports are located along the Greek and Turkish coasts of the Aegean Sea. Theport of Piraeus in Athens is the chief port in Greece, the largest passenger port in Europe[23][24] and the third largest in the world,[25]servicing about 20 million passengers annually. With a throughput of 1.4 millionTEUs, Piraeus is placed among the top ten ports in container traffic in Europe and the top container port in theEastern Mediterranean.[26] Piraeus is also the commercial hub ofGreek shipping. Piraeus bi-annually acts as the focus for a major shipping convention, known as Posidonia, which attracts maritime industry professionals from all over the world. Piraeus is currently Greece's third-busiest port in terms of tons of goods transported, behindAgioi Theodoroi andThessaloniki.[27][verification needed] 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 222,824TEU's. Paloukia, on the island ofSalamis, is a major passenger port.
Fish are Greece's second-largest agricultural export, and Greece has Europe's largest fishing fleet.[28] Fish captured includesardines,mackerel,grouper,grey mullets,sea bass, andseabream. There is a considerable difference between fish catches between the pelagic and demersal zones;[29] with respect to pelagic fisheries, the catches from the northern, central and southern Aegean area groupings are dominated, respectively, byanchovy,horse mackerels, andboops. For demersal fisheries, the catches from the northern and southern Aegean area groupings are dominated bygrey mullets andpickerel (Spicara smaris) respectively.
The industry has been impacted by theGreat Recession.[clarification needed] Overfishing andhabitat destruction is also a concern, threatening grouper, and seabream populations, resulting in perhaps a 50% decline of fish catch.[30] 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 molluscsPinna nobilis,Charonia tritonis andLithophaga lithophaga, can be bought in restaurants and fish markets around Greece.[31]
Greece is one of themost visited countries in Europe and the world with over 33 million visitors in 2018,[38] and the tourism industry around a quarter of Greece's Gross Domestic Product.[39] The islands of Santorini, Crete, Lesbos, Delos, and Mykonos are common tourist destinations. An estimated 2 million tourists visit Santorini annually.[40] However, concerns relating toovertourism have arisen in recent years, such as issues of inadequate infrastructure and overcrowding.[41] Alongside Greece, Turkey has also been successful in developing resort areas and attracting large number of tourists,[42] contributing totourism in Turkey. The phrase "Blue Cruise" refers to recreational voyages along theTurkish Riviera, including across the Aegean.[43] The ancient city ofTroy, a World Heritage Site, is on the Turkish coast of the Aegean.[44]
Greece and Turkey both take part in theBlue Flag beach certification programme of theFoundation for Environmental Education. The certification is awarded for beaches andmarinas meeting strict quality standards including environmental protection, water quality, safety and services criteria.[45] As of 2015, the Blue Flag has been awarded to 395 beaches and 9 marinas in Greece. Southern Aegean beaches on the Turkish coast includeMuğla, with 102 beaches awarded with the blue flag, along withİzmir andAydın, who have 49 and 30 beaches awarded respectively.[46][47]
^Aksu, A.E.; Yaşar, D.; Mudie, P.J.; Gillespie, H. (April 1995). "Late glacial-Holocene paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic evolution of the Aegean Sea: micropaleontological and stable isotopic evidence".Marine Micropaleontology.25 (1):1–28.Bibcode:1995MarMP..25....1A.doi:10.1016/0377-8398(94)00026-J.
^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?]
^Tjeerd H. van Andel; Judith C. Shackleton (Winter 1982). "Late Paleolithic and Mesolithic Coastlines of Greece and the Aegean".Journal of Field Archaeology.9 (4):445–454.doi:10.1179/009346982791504454.JSTOR529681.
^Tracey Cullen,Aegean Prehistory: A Review (American Journal of Archaeology. Supplement, 1); Oliver Dickinson,The Aegean Bronze Age (Cambridge World Archaeology).
^Bramwell, Bill (2004).Coastal Mass Tourism: Diversification and Sustainable Development in Southern Europe. Channel View Publications.ISBN1845413733.
^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.
^Gülcan, Yaprak; Kuştepeli, Yeşim; Akgüngör, Sedef (October 2009). "Public Policies and Development of the Tourism Industry in the Aegean Region".European Planning Studies.17 (10):1509–1523.doi:10.1080/09654310903141722.S2CID154452680.
^D'Alessandro, W.; Bellomo, S.; Brusca, L.; Kyriakopoulos, K.; Calabrese, S.; Daskalopoulou, K. (April 2017). "The impact of natural and anthropogenic factors on groundwater quality in an active volcanic/geothermal system under semi-arid climatic conditions: The case study of Methana peninsula (Greece)".Journal of Geochemical Exploration.175:110–119.Bibcode:2017JCExp.175..110D.doi:10.1016/j.gexplo.2017.01.003.
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