Aegean

{{for|the ship ''Aegean Sea''|Aegean Sea (oil spill)}}
{{unreferenced|date=December 2007}}

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The '''Aegean Sea''' ({{pronEng|iːˈdʒiːən}}, {{lang-el|Αιγαίο Πέλαγος}}, ''Aigaío Pélagos''; {{lang-tr|Ege Denizi}}, ''Adalar Denizi'') is a [[sea]] arm of the [[Mediterranean Sea]] located between the southern [[Balkans|Balkan]] and [[Anatolia]]n [[peninsula]]s, 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 [[Aegean Region, Turkey]], consists of nine provinces in southwestern Turkey, in part bordering on the Aegean sea.

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 {{Polytonic|αἶγες}} (''aiges'') "waves" ([[Hesychius of Alexandria|Hesychius]]; metaphorical use of {{Polytonic|αἴξ}} (''aix'') "goat"), hence "wavy sea", cf. also {{Polytonic|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==
[[Aegean civilization]] is a general term for the [[Bronze Age]] civilizations of [[Greece]] and the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]]; in ancient times the sea was the birthplace of two ancient civilizations – the [[Minoan civilization|Minoans]] of [[Crete]], and the [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenean]] Civilization of the [[Peloponnese]].<ref>Tracey Cullen, ''Aegean Prehistory: A Review'' (American Journal of Archaeology. Supplement, 1); Oliver Dickinson, ''The Aegean Bronze Age'' (Cambridge World Archaeology).</ref> 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".<ref>The familiar phrase giving rise to the title ''Prehistorians Round the Pond: Reflections on Aegean Prehistory as a Discipline'', by John F. Cherry, Despina Margomenou, and Lauren E. Talalay.</ref> The Aegean Sea was later invaded by [[Persian Empire|Persians]] and the [[Roman Republic|Romans]], and inhabited by the [[Byzantine Empire]], the [[Venice|Venetians]], the [[Seljuk Turks]], and the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The Aegean was the site of the original [[democracy|democracies]], and its seaways were the means of contact among several diverse civilizations of the Eastern Mediterranean.

==Geography==
[[Image:Aegeansea.jpg|thumb|left|Satellite Image]]

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 [[List of Aegean Islands#The Northern Aegean Islands|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 Island|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 [[volcano|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 language|Greek]]: Τένεδος ''[[Tenedos]]'') and [[Gökçeada]] ([[Greek language|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 Gulf|Mirabelli]], [[Almyros Bay|Almyros]], [[Souda Bay|Souda]] and [[Gulf of Chania|Chania]] bays or gulfs, on the mainland the [[Myrtoan Sea]] to the west, the [[Saronic Gulf]] northwestward, the [[Petalies Gulf]] which connects with the [[Gulf of Euboea|South Euboic Sea]], the [[Pagasetic Gulf]] which connects with the [[Gulf of Euboea|North Euboic Sea]], the [[Thermian Gulf]] northwestward, the [[Chalkidiki]] Peninsula including the [[Cassandra Gulf|Cassandra]] and the [[Singitic Gulf]]s, 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==
{{Wikisource1911Enc|Aegean Sea}}
*[[Aegean civilization]]
*[[Aegean Islands]]
*[[Aegean dispute]]
*For Aegean languages, see [[Tyrsenian languages]]
*[[List of traditional Greek place names]]
==Notes==
{{reflist}}

{{Ancient Greece}}
{{Aegean Sea}}

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[[Category:Marginal seas of the Mediterranean]]
[[Category:Seas]]
[[Category:Landforms of Greece]]
[[Category:Landforms of Turkey]]

[[ar:بحر إيجة]]
[[ast:Mar Exéu]]
[[az:Egey dənizi]]
[[br:Mor Egea]]
[[bg:Егейско море]]
[[ca:Mar Egea]]
[[cv:Эгей тинĕсĕ]]
[[cs:Egejské moře]]
[[cy:Môr Aegeaidd]]
[[da:Ægæiske Hav]]
[[de:Ägäisches Meer]]
[[et:Egeuse meri]]
[[el:Αιγαίο Πέλαγος]]
[[es:Mar Egeo]]
[[eo:Egea Maro]]
[[eu:Egeo itsasoa]]
[[fa:دریای اژه]]
[[fr:Mer Égée]]
[[gl:Mar Exeo]]
[[ko:에게 해]]
[[hr:Egejsko more]]
[[id:Laut Aegea]]
[[is:Eyjahaf]]
[[it:Mar Egeo]]
[[he:הים האגאי]]
[[ka:ეგეოსის ზღვა]]
[[ku:Derya Ege]]
[[la:Mare Aegaeum]]
[[lv:Egejas jūra]]
[[lt:Egėjo jūra]]
[[hu:Égei-tenger]]
[[mt:Baħar Eġew]]
[[nl:Egeïsche Zee]]
[[ja:エーゲ海]]
[[no:Egeerhavet]]
[[oc:Mar Egèa]]
[[pl:Morze Egejskie]]
[[pt:Mar Egeu]]
[[ro:Marea Egee]]
[[ru:Эгейское море]]
[[sk:Egejské more]]
[[sl:Egejsko morje]]
[[sr:Егејско море]]
[[sh:Egejsko more]]
[[fi:Aigeianmeri]]
[[sv:Egeiska havet]]
[[th:ทะเลอีเจียน]]
[[tr:Ege Denizi]]
[[uk:Егейське море]]
[[ur:بحیرہ ایجیئن]]
[[zh:爱琴海]]