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UNIDAD 7: LOS MEDIOS NATURALES DE LA ZONA TEMPLADA

ACTIVITY 21: MEDITERRANEAN SEA

1. Read the text.

The Mediterranean Sea (35 degrees north, 20 degrees east) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia. It covers an approximate area of 2.5 million km² (965 000 mi²), but its connection to the Atlantic (the Strait of Gibraltar) is only 14 km (9 mi) wide.

The Mediterranean Sea is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by the Strait of Gibraltar on the west and to the Sea of Marmara and Black Sea, by the Dardanelles and the Bosporus respectively, on the east. The Sea of Marmara is often considered a part of the Mediterranean Sea, whereas the Black Sea is generally not. The man-made Suez Canal in the south-east connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea.

The Mediterranean climate is generally one of wet winters and hot, dry summers. Crops of the region include olives, grapes, oranges, tangerines, and cork.

 2. Open your book. Go to a world map and look for where are the blue names.

3. Read the text.

The Mediterranean Sea is sub-divided into a number of smaller seas, each with their own designation (from west to east):

• the Alboran Sea, between Spain and Morocco,
• the Balearic Sea, between mainland Spain and its Balearic Islands,
• the Ligurian Sea between Corsica and Liguria (Italy),
• the Tyrrhenian Sea enclosed by Sardinia, Italian peninsula and Sicily,
• the Adriatic Sea between the Italian peninsula and the coasts of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Albania
• the Ionian Sea between Italy, Greece, and Albania,
• the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey,
• the Libyan Sea south of Crete, between the island and Libya
• the Sea of Marmara between the Aegean and Black Seas.
• the Cilician Sea between Turkey and Cyprus

4. Choose one of these seas and find out more information about it.

5. Click here and do the exercise

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