The Mediterranean Sea is a large body of water that lies between Europe, Africa, and Asia. It has an area of about 2.5 million square kilometers (1 million square miles) and a maximum depth of around 5,267 meters (17,280 feet). The Mediterranean Sea is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by the Strait of Gibraltar in the west and to the Red Sea in the east via the Suez Canal.
The name “Mediterranean” comes from the Latin word mediterraneus, which means “in the middle of land”. The sea has been known by this name since at least classical antiquity. The ancients also called it Mare Internum (“Internal Sea”) or Mare Nostrum (“Our Sea”).
The Mediterranean Sea is divided into two parts: the western basin, which is relatively shallow with an average depth of around 1,500 meters (5,000 feet), and the eastern basin, which is much deeper with an average depth of around 3,000 meters (10,000 feet). The deepest point in the MediterraneanSea is located in the Ionian Basin in Greece at a depth of 5,267 meters (17,280 feet).
The climate of the Mediterranean region is characterized by warm summers and mild winters. The sea itself has a moderate temperature with an average surface temperature of around 22 °C (72 °F). However, this can vary depending on location with temperatures in some areas reaching as high as 30 °C (86 °F) during summer and as low as 14 °C (57 °F) during winter.
Precipitation in the form of rain or snowfall varies depending on location but averages around 600 mm (24 inches) per year across most of the basin. There are also significant variations in salinity levels across different parts ofthe sea with higher levels found near river mouths and lower levels found in more remote areas. For example, salinity levels can range from 36 grams per liter near Sicily to 39 grams per liter near Israel.