Aegean Sea

The Aegean Sea or the Aegean ( ancient Greek Αἰγαῖον πέλαγος Aigaion pelagos, today modern Greek Αιγαίο Πέλαγος (n. sg. ) Egeo pelagos, Turkish Ege Denizi ) is a marginal sea of the Mediterranean.

Riparian countries are Greece and Turkey. The Turkish Ege region is named after the Aegean Sea.

Location

The Aegean is the north-eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. In the west and north it is bounded by the Greek mainland and the east by the coast of Asia Minor Turkey. The Cretan island arc with the islands of Kythira, Andikythira, Crete, Kasos, Karpathos and Rhodes, which connects the mountain ranges of the Peloponnese with the Taurus Mountains in southwestern Turkey, forms the southern end. Access to the open Mediterranean Sea to the south-east ( Levan -Atlantic Ocean ) and southwest (Libyan Sea) is about six straits:

• Street of Rhodes ( Στενό της Ρόδου ), width 17 km, depth 350 m
• Strait of Karpathos ( Στενό της Καρπάθου ), width 43 m, depth 850 m
• Strait of Kasos ( Στενό της Κάσου ) width 67 m, depth 1000 m
• Strait of Andikythira ( Στενό των Αντικυθήρων ), width 32 m, depth 700 m
• Strait of Kythira ( Στενό των Κυθήρων ), width 33 m, depth 160 m
• Strait of Elafonissos ( Στενό της Ελαφόνησου ), width 11 km, depth 180 m

The Aegean does not border directly to the further ( south ) west location Ionian Sea, but is separated from it by the still belonging to the Libyan Sea Laconian Gulf.

In the northeast is on the Dardanelles, the Sea of ​​Marmara and the Bosphorus connects the Black Sea.

The maximum extension is from north to south about 650 km and from west to east 390 km. With an area of ​​about 240,000 km ², the proportion of the shelf is 5%.

Marine parts

• The Thracian Sea is to the north.
• The Mirtoo Sea lies between the Cyclades and the Peloponnese.
• North of Crete is the Cretan Sea. In the east, the Carpathian Sea joins.
• The Icarian Sea is a part of the Aegean Sea in the east, between the islands of Chios and Kos.

Name and mythology

The name is derived from Aegeus, a mythical king of Athens. When his son Theseus to Crete moved to Athens from the shameful tribute supplies to Crete ( every nine years seven youths and as many virgins ) to free (→ Minotaur ), Theseus promised his father to raise on his return white instead of the usual black sails, if he had survived. Upon his arrival in Crete Theseus met Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos. He fell in love with her ​​and both devised a plan to defeat the Minotaur. Ariadne gave Theseus with a red ball of wool, with whose help he should find the way back out of the labyrinth after defeating the Minotaur. The plan worked. However, Theseus wanted to take Ariadne to marry to Athens, left her with a stay on Naxos, because Dionysus appeared to him in a dream and claims to Ariadne presented. About his grief Theseus forgot to put items the white sails. When his father Aegeus saw the black sails on the horizon, he thought that his son had not survived the mission. He then plunged down the cliff into the sea, which is named after him today.

History

The Aegean Sea is considered the cradle of two great ancient civilizations, the Minoan civilization of ancient Greece and the. Later in the Aegean ruled Persians, Romans, Byzantines, Genoese, Venetians and Ottomans.

In ancient times, were the Aegean Islands, under which Crete, Euboea (Evia ), and - by some distance - Lesbos are greatest, a source of cultural development, we concentrated especially on seafaring, trade and knowledge transfer. The combination of different cultures of the eastern Mediterranean region was favored by the geographical conditions.

Weather

The winds of the Aegean are characterized by their resistance. In a cloudless sky blow from May to September often stormy northeasterly very dry and warm winds, which are named after the ancient Greek name Etesian. The modern Greek term is Meltemi ( μελτέμι ) derived from the Turkish Meltem. According to this characteristic of the Mediterranean climate type is referred to as Etesienklima. Cause of this constant air flow are the Azores High and the superimposed over the Asian mainland thermal low. Gusts and downdrafts occur especially on the coast of Asia Minor. The north wind of the Aegean Sea is known as Boreas (Greek βορηάς Vorias ). In the north of the Aegean " Vardaris " called for wind surges of cold air that can be so intense that parts of the shallow bay of Thessaloniki freeze makes.

Geography

Islands

The Aegean Islands are usually divided into seven groups ( the large island of Evia Evia, or none of these groups is attributed to ):

• Crete and the surrounding small islands
• Cyclades
• The North Aegean islands (also: Thracian Islands)
• The Northern Sporades
• The eastern Aegean islands
• The Saronic Islands
• The Southern Sporades ( include, inter alia, the so-called Dodecanese Islands)

Only the two North Aegean islands GOKCEADA (Greek Ἴμβρος Imbros ) and Bozcaada ( Tenedos in Greek Τένεδος ) and a few Located right off the Turkish coast islands are politically with Turkey. All the other islands belong to Greece.

On the Aegean coast on the Turkish mainland lead some of the largest tributaries of the Aegean Sea, including the Great and the Small Meander Meander. Other major rivers flow to the Aegean Sea from northern Greece, including Aliakmona, Vardar, Struma, Nestos and Mariza.

Greek -Turkish disputes in the Aegean Sea

Between Greece and Turkey there are a number of differences of opinion with respect to the sovereignty over the Aegean Sea. The points of contention are essentially:

• The delimitation of territorial waters
• Coverage of the national airspace and flight information region
• The delimitation of the exclusive economic zones and the use of the Continental Schelfes
• The question of the demilitarized status of some islands in the eastern Aegean ( Lemnos, Samothrace, GOKCEADA, Bozcaada, Tavcan )
• The territorial dispute over the small uninhabited island of Imia / Kardak and Kastelórizo Island

For decades, Turkey and Greece are involved in a costly arms race. In 1996, almost came to an armed conflict between the two NATO member countries. The conflict is also about suspected oil reserves in the Aegean. Furthermore, it comes to the territorial waters between the two states:

10 -mile zone

12 -mile zone