Aegean Sea

 

Gr. Aigaion Pelagos, Turkish Ege Denizi, arm of the Mediterranean Sea, c.400 mi (640 km) long and 200 mi (320 km) wide, off SE Europe between Greece and Turkey; Crete and Rhodes mark its southern limit. Irregular in shape, it is dotted with islands, most of which belong to Greece; they include Évvoia, the Sporades, the Cyclades, Sámos, Khíos, Lesbos, Thásos, and the Dodecanese. The Aegean Sea's greatest depths (more than 11,600 ft/3,540 m) are found E of Crete. The Dardanelles strait connects the Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea.

Sardines and sponges taken from the Aegean are economically important. There has been considerable tension between Greece and Turkey since the 1970s over oil deposits and mineral rights in the Aegean. The name Aegean has been variously derived from Aegae, a city of Évvoia; from Aegeus, father of Theseus, who drowned himself in the sea believing his son had been slain by the Minotaur; and from Aegea, an Amazon queen who drowned in it. The sea's ancient name, Archipelago, now applies to its islands and, generally, to any island group.

The Aegean Sea (pronounced [i:ˈdʒi:ən], Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος, Aigaío Pélagos; Turkish: Ege Denizi, Adalar Denizi) is a sea arm of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, 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 sea was traditionally known as the Archipelago (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 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 αἶγες (aiges) "waves" (Hesychius; metaphorical use of αἴξ (aix) "goat"), hence "wavy sea", cf. also 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

In ancient times the sea was the birthplace of two ancient civilizations – the Minoans of Crete, and the Mycenean Civilization of the Peloponnese. 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". The Aegean Sea was later invaded by Persians and the Romans, and inhabited by the Byzantine Empire, the Venetians, the Seljuk Turks, and the Ottoman Empire. The Aegean was the site of the original democracies, and its seaways were the means of contact among several diverse civilizations of the Eastern Mediterranean.

Geography

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. or 1.912 British nautical miles), 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, Karpathos, and Rhodes.

The Greek Aegean Islands can be simply divided into seven groups: the Northeastern Aegean Islands, Euboea, the Northern Sporades, the Cyclades, the Saronic Islands (or Argo-Saronic Islands), the Dodecanese (or Southern Sporades), and 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, and a third extends across the Peloponnese and Crete to Rhodes, dividing the Aegean from the Mediterranean. Many of the islands have safe harbours and bays, but navigation through the sea is generally difficult. Many of the islands are 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 (Greek: Τένεδος Tenedos) and Gökçeada (Greek: Ίμβρος Imvros), while the rest belonging to Greece. The Aegean Sea has about 1,415 islands and islets, of which almost 1,395 belong to Greece.

The bays in gulfs counterclockwise includes on Crete, the Mirabelli, Almyros, Souda and Chania bays or gulfs, on the mainland the Myrtoan Sea to the west, the Saronic Gulf northwestward, the Petalies Gulf which connects with the South Euboic Sea, the Pagasetic Gulf which connects with the North Euboic Sea, the Thermian Gulf northwestward, the Chalkidiki Peninsula including the Cassandra and the Singitic Gulfs, 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, Gökova Gulf, Güllük Gulf.

See also

• Aegean civilization
• Aegean Islands
• Aegean dispute
• List of traditional Greek place names

Topics about Ancient Greece
Places	Aegean Sea · Hellespont · Macedon · Sparta · Athens · Corinth · Thebes · Thermopylae · Antioch · Alexandria · Pergamon · Miletus · Delphi · Olympia · Troy
Life	Agriculture · Art · Cuisine · Democracy · Economy · Law · Medicine · Paideia · Pederasty · Pottery · Prostitution · Slavery · Technology · Olympic Games
Philosophers	Pythagoras · Heraclitus · Parmenides  · Protagoras · Empedocles · Democritus · Socrates · Plato · Aristotle · Zeno · Epicurus
Authors	Homer · Hesiod · Pindar · Sappho · Aeschylus · Sophocles · Euripides · Aristophanes · Menander · Herodotus · Thucydides · Xenophon · Plutarch · Lucian · Polybius · Aesop
Buildings	Parthenon · Temple of Artemis · Acropolis · Ancient Agora · Arch of Hadrian · Temple of Zeus at Olympia · Colossus of Rhodes · Temple of Hephaestus · Samothrace temple complex
Chronology	Aegean civilization · Minoan Civilization · Mycenaean civilization · Greek dark ages · Classical Greece · Hellenistic Greece · Roman Greece
People of Note	Alexander The Great · Lycurgus · Pericles · Alcibiades · Demosthenes · Themistocles · Archimedes · Hippocrates
Art and Sculpture	Kouroi · Korai · Kritios Boy · Doryphoros · Statue of Zeus · Discobolos · Aphrodite of Knidos · Laocoön · Phidias · Euphronios · Polykleitos · Myron · Parthenon Frieze · Praxiteles

Articles on the Aegean Sea
General
Countries	Greece •  Turkey
Other	Aegean civilization • Aegean Islands • Aegean dispute
Aegean islands
The Cyclades	Amorgos • Anafi • Andros • Antiparos • Delos • Folegandros • Ios • Kea • Kimolos • Koufonisi • Kythnos • Milos • Mykonos • Naxos • Paros • Santorini • Serifos • Sifnos • Sikinos • Syros • Tinos
The Dodecanese	Agathonisi • Arkoi • Armathia • Alimia • Astakida • Astypalia • Chamili • Gaidaros • Gyali • Halki • Kalolimnos • Kalymnos • Kandelioussa • Karpathos • Kasos • Kastellorizo • Kos • Leros • Lipsi • Nisyros • Patmos • Pacheia • Platy • Pserimos • Rho • Rhodes • Saria • Strongili • Symi • Syrna • Telendos • Tilos • Zafora
The North Aegean	Chios • Chryse • Cynda • Icaria • Imbros • Lemnos • Lesbos • Psara •Samos • Samothrace • Tenedos • Thasos
The Saronic	Aegina • Angistri • Dokos • Hydra • Poros • Salamis • Spetses
The Sporades	Adelfoi Islets • Agios Georgios Skopelou • Alonissos • Argos Skiathou • Dasia • Erinia • Gioura • Grammeza • Kyra Panagia • Lekhoussa • Peristera • Piperi • Psathoura • Repio • Rineia Skyrou • Sarakino • Skandili • Skantzoura • Skiathos • Skopelos • Skyropoula • Skyros • Tsougria • Valaxa
Other	Crete • Dia • Euboea • Gavdos

Coordinates: 39°15′34″N 24°57′09″E / 39.25944, 24.9525 (Aegean Sea)

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