Aegean Seas - Mirtoon Sea | Sea Of Crete | Thracian Sea
The Aegean Sea is part of the Mediterranean Sea located between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. 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 side, including Crete and Rhodes. The sea was traditionally known as an Archipelago 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.
In Bulgarian the sea is also known as White sea. 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.
The Aegean Sea covers about 214 000 square kilometres in area, and measures about 610 kilometres in longitude and 300 kilometres in latitude. The sea's maximum depth is 3,543 metres, east of Crete. The Aegean Islands are found within its waters, with the following islands on the south (generally from west to east): Kythera, Antikythera, Crete, Karpathos, and Rhodes.
Many of the Aegean Islands, or chains of islands, are actually extensions of the mountains on the mainland.
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 and Gökçeada, while the rest belong to Greece. Counting the islets, the Aegean Sea has about 1,415 islands and islets, of which about 1,395 belong to Greece.
The Aegean Sea has three of its own seas:
Mirtoon Sea - this sea can be considered a subdivision of the Aegean Sea and in turn the Mediterranean Sea is defined as the area between the Cyclades and the Peloponnesos.
Sea of Crete - this sea is the sea south of the Aegean Sea, north of the island Crete, and south of the Cyclades. The sea also stretches from Kythera east to the Dodecanese islands of Karpathos and Kassos. The bounding seas to the west are the Ionian Sea as well as the rest of the Mediterranean Sea. Ferry routes to and from Piraeus, as well as the southern islands of the Aegean and the Dodecanese, run in this area.
Thracian Sea - this sea part of the Aegean Sea and forms the northernmost point of the sea. Regions surrounding the sea are Macedonia and Thrace as well as northwestern Turkey. The entire stretch of the sea lies north of the 40th parallel. The length from east to west is from 23 miles. Islands includes Thasos and Samothrace in Greece and Bozcaada, also Imroz in Turkey. The bays and gulfs includes the Ierissian Gulf to the southwest, the Strymonian Gulf where the Strymon River empties, the Kavala Gulf and one in Turkey. Rivers empties into this portion of the gulf includes the Nestos and the Evros River. The famous thermal springs are Loutra Eleftheron in Kavala.
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Lindos Harbour on the Aegean Sea. |
The Monemvasia overlooking the Aegean Sea. |
Other Mediterranean Seas:
Adriatic Sea | Aegean Sea | Alboran Sea | Balearic Sea | Ionian Sea | Ligurian Sea | Sea Of Marmara | Tyrrhenian Sea | Gulf Of Sidra
