During summer, regions of Mediterranean climate are dominated by the subtropical high pressure, and are thus equivalent to deserts from the point of view of air mass positions, while during winter the polar front moves equatorward into regions of Mediterranean climate giving weather conditions similar to an oceanic climate. As a result, areas with this climate receive almost all their rain during the winter months, and may go anywhere from 2-5 months during t ...

See also:

Mediterranean climate, Mediterranean climate - Cause, Mediterranean climate - Precipitation, Mediterranean climate - Temperatures

Read more here: » Mediterranean climate: Encyclopedia II - Mediterranean climate - Precipitation

See also:

Mediterranean climate, Mediterranean climate - Cause, Mediterranean climate - Precipitation, Mediterranean climate - Temperatures

Read more here: » Mediterranean climate: Encyclopedia II - Mediterranean climate - Cause

The Mediterranean basin covers portions of three continents, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Europe lies to the north, and three large peninsulas, the Iberian Peninsula, Italy, and the Balkan Peninsula, extend into the Mediterranean-climate zone. A system of folded mountains, including the Pyrenees dividing Spain from France, the Alps dividing Italy from Central Europe, the Dinaric Alps along the eastern Adriatic, and the Balkan and Rhodope mountains of the Balkan Peninsula divide the Mediterranean from the tempera ...

See also:

Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean Basin - Geography, Mediterranean Basin - Origins, Mediterranean Basin - Flora and Fauna, Mediterranean Basin - Ecoregions, Mediterranean Basin - History, Mediterranean Basin - Agriculture, Mediterranean Basin - External link

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After the entrance of Italy into the war in June 1940, Ramillies served in the Mediterranean. Along with HMS Royal Sovereign she escorted a convoy from Alexandria, Egypt, to Malta between June 27 and June 30, 1940. From August 16 to August 18 she bombarded the port of Bardia and Fort Capuzzo in the Italian colony of Libya in North Africa. On the way back she was attacked by Italian aircraft, but was not hit. She was a part of Admiral Andrew Cunningham's Mediter ...

See also:

HMS Ramillies 07, HMS Ramillies 07 - Construction and launch, HMS Ramillies 07 - Early days, HMS Ramillies 07 - Old Empire Old Ship, HMS Ramillies 07 - Obsolete But Needed, HMS Ramillies 07 - Indian Ocean, HMS Ramillies 07 - Mediterranean, HMS Ramillies 07 - The North Atlantic: Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the Bismarck, HMS Ramillies 07 - Indian Ocean Again, HMS Ramillies 07 - D-Day and the South of France, HMS Ramillies 07 - Finis, HMS Ramillies 07 - External link

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The Mediterranean Fleet was part of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, historically defending the vital sea link between the British Isles and the majority of the British Empire in the Eastern Hemisphere. The Fleet was in existence until 1967. Malta, a part of the British Empire since 1814, was used as a shipping waystation and headquarters for the Mediterranean Fleet until the mid-1930s. In 1893, Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon drowned as his flagship, HMS Victoria, sank ...

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The "Lost city" of Atlantis was an ancient mythical island, whose existence and location have never been confirmed. The first references to Atlantis are from the classical Greek philosopher Plato, who said it was engulfed by the ocean as the result of an earthquake 9,000 years before his own time. Plato claimed it was somewhere outside the Pillars of Hercules, now known as the Strait of Gibraltar. While there are many theories about Atlantis, nearly all serious research shows that Atlantis never existed as Plato described it, although elements of ...

Including:

• Atlantis - Origin
• Atlantis - Plato
• Atlantis - Aristotle
• Atlantis - Other Greek accounts
• Atlantis - Modern interest
• Atlantis - Nineteenth century
• Atlantis - Nationalism and Socialism in abuse of Atlantis
• Atlantis - Recent times
• Atlantis - Location hypotheses
• Atlantis - The Mediterranean
• Atlantis - Outside the Mediterranean
• Atlantis - Atlantis in Fiction
• Atlantis - Source Writings

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The Crusader states were the feudal territories created by Catholic Western Europeans during Holy Wars, called crusades because they carried cross-markings as symbols of their goal, to establish the Christian faith in territories under the sway of Islam or paganism. It is mainly said of the states founded by crusaders in the Orthodox and Muslim Eastern Mediterranean during the Crusades in the 12th and 13th centuries. However it can also apply to the other territorial gains (often small and short-lived) elsewhere against Muslim ...

Including:

• Crusader states - Facing Islam
• Crusader states - In the Levant
• Crusader states - Cyprus
• Crusader states - In Greece
• Crusader states - Minor Mediterranean fiefs
• Crusader states - Exterminating Paganism
• Crusader states - Prussia

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Biologically, a woodland is differentiated from a forest. In these terms, a forest has a largely-closed canopy -- in other words, the branches and foliage of trees interlock overhead to provide extensive and nearly continuous shade. A woodland, however, has a largely-open canopy, with sunlight penetrating between trees. Some types of woodland are essentially grasslands with shrubs and scattered trees. A woodlot is a closely-related term, referring generally to a small area of woods left remaining in a farm or other non-forest m ...

Including:

• Woodland - Woodland ecoregions
• Woodland - Tropical and subtropical grasslands savannas and shrublands
• Woodland - Temperate grasslands savannas and shrublands
• Woodland - Montane grasslands and shrublands
• Woodland - Mediterranean forests woodlands and shrub
• Woodland - Deserts and xeric shrublands

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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. Tides are very limited in the Mediterranean as a ...

See also:

Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean Sea - Name, Mediterranean Sea - Geography, Mediterranean Sea - Bordering countries, Mediterranean Sea - Subdivisions, Mediterranean Sea - Geology, Mediterranean Sea - Ecology

Read more here: » Mediterranean Sea: Encyclopedia II - Mediterranean Sea - Geography

Main article: Battle of Crete The evacuation of Allied land forces after their defeat by German paratroops in the Battle of Crete during May 1941, cost the Allied navies a number of ships. During the evacuation Cunningham was determined that the "navy must not let the army down". When army generals stated their fears that he would lose too many ships Cunningham said that "It takes three years to build a ship, it takes three centuries to build a tradition". The Battle of Crete, although a loss, took a fearful toll ...

See also:

Battle of the Mediterranean, Battle of the Mediterranean - Italy's declaration war, Battle of the Mediterranean - The French Mediterranean Fleet, Battle of the Mediterranean - Battle of Taranto, Battle of the Mediterranean - The Battle of Matapan, Battle of the Mediterranean - Crete, Battle of the Mediterranean - Malta, Battle of the Mediterranean - Major Allied operations

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The Mediterranean Basin was shaped by the ancient collision of the northward-moving African-Arabian continent with the stable Eurasian continent. As Africa-Arabia moved north, it closed the former Tethys Sea, which formerly separated Eurasia from the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana, of which Africa was part. At the same time, about 170 mya in the Jurassic, a small Neotethys ocean basin formed shortly before the Tethys Sea was closed at the eastern end. The collision pushed up a vast system of mountains, extending from the Pyrenees in Spai ...

See also:

Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean Basin - Geography, Mediterranean Basin - Origins, Mediterranean Basin - Flora and Fauna, Mediterranean Basin - Ecoregions, Mediterranean Basin - History, Mediterranean Basin - Agriculture, Mediterranean Basin - External link

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As a result of the drying of the sea during the Messinian Salinity Crisis, the marine biota of the Mediterranean are derived primarily from the Atlantic Ocean. The North Atlantic is considerably colder and more nutrient-rich than the Mediterranean, and the marine life of the Mediterranean has had to adapt to its differing conditions in the five million years since the basin was reflooded. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 created the first salt-water passage between the Mediterranean and Red seas. The Red Sea is higher than the Ea ...

See also:

Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean Sea - Name, Mediterranean Sea - Geography, Mediterranean Sea - Bordering countries, Mediterranean Sea - Subdivisions, Mediterranean Sea - Geology, Mediterranean Sea - Ecology

Read more here: » Mediterranean Sea: Encyclopedia II - Mediterranean Sea - Ecology

Neanderthals inhabited western Asia and the non-glaciated portions of Europe starting about 230,000 years ago. Modern humans moved into western Asia from Africa less than 100,000 years ago. Modern humans, known as Cro-Magnons, moved into Europe approximately 50-40,000 years ago. The most recent glacial period, the Wisconsin glaciation, reached its maximum extent approximately 21,000 years ago, and ended approximately 12,000 years ago. A warm period, known as the H ...

See also:

Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean Basin - Geography, Mediterranean Basin - Origins, Mediterranean Basin - Flora and Fauna, Mediterranean Basin - Ecoregions, Mediterranean Basin - History, Mediterranean Basin - Agriculture, Mediterranean Basin - External link

Read more here: » Mediterranean Basin: Encyclopedia II - Mediterranean Basin - History

The geology of the Mediterranean is complex, involving the break-up and then collision of the African and Eurasian plates, and the Messinian Salinity Crisis in the late Miocene when the Mediterranean dried up. The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 1,500 m and the deepest recorded point is 5267 meters (about 3.27 miles) in the Calypso Deep in the Ionian Sea. The coastline extends for 46,000 km. A shallow submarine ridge (the Strait of Sicily) between the island of Sicily and the coast of Tunisia divides the sea in two main subr ...

See also:

Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean Sea - Name, Mediterranean Sea - Geography, Mediterranean Sea - Bordering countries, Mediterranean Sea - Subdivisions, Mediterranean Sea - Geology, Mediterranean Sea - Ecology

Read more here: » Mediterranean Sea: Encyclopedia II - Mediterranean Sea - Geology

The term Mediterranean derives from the Latin mediterraneus, 'inland' (medius, 'middle' + terra, 'land, earth'), in Greek "mesogeios". The Mediterranean Sea has been known by a number of alternative names throughout human history. It was, for example, commonly called Mare Nostrum (Latin, Our Sea) by the Romans. In the Bible, it is referred to as the Great Sea or the Western Sea. In modern Hebrew, it is called "ha-Yam ha-Tichon" (הים התיכון), "the middle sea", a literal adaptation of t ...

See also:

Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean Sea - Name, Mediterranean Sea - Geography, Mediterranean Sea - Bordering countries, Mediterranean Sea - Subdivisions, Mediterranean Sea - Geology, Mediterranean Sea - Ecology

Read more here: » Mediterranean Sea: Encyclopedia II - Mediterranean Sea - Name

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 Catalan Sea, between the Iberian peninsula and the 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 Dalmatian coast, the Ionian Sea between Italy and Greece, the ...

See also:

Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean Sea - Name, Mediterranean Sea - Geography, Mediterranean Sea - Bordering countries, Mediterranean Sea - Subdivisions, Mediterranean Sea - Geology, Mediterranean Sea - Ecology

Read more here: » Mediterranean Sea: Encyclopedia II - Mediterranean Sea - Subdivisions

The Mediterranean Basin is the largest of the world's five Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrub regions. It is home to a number of plant communities, which vary with rainfall, elevation, latitude, and soils. Scrublands occur in the driest areas, especially areas near the seacoast where wind and salt spray are frequent. Low, soft-leaved scrublands around the Mediterranean are known as garrigue in France, phrygana in Greece, tomillares in Spain, and batha in Israel. Shrublands are dense ...

See also:

Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean Basin - Geography, Mediterranean Basin - Origins, Mediterranean Basin - Flora and Fauna, Mediterranean Basin - Ecoregions, Mediterranean Basin - History, Mediterranean Basin - Agriculture, Mediterranean Basin - External link

Read more here: » Mediterranean Basin: Encyclopedia II - Mediterranean Basin - Flora and Fauna

Main article: Battle of Taranto To reduce the threat posed by the Italian fleet based in the port of Taranto to convoys sailing from Alexandria to Malta, Admiral Cunningham organised an attack code named Operation Judgement by Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers from HMS Illustrious on the Italian fleet while still at anchor. This was the first time in history that an attack such as this had been attempted it was a great success and on November 11, 1940, the Royal Navy crippled or destroyed three Italian battleships in the Battle ...

See also:

Battle of the Mediterranean, Battle of the Mediterranean - Italy's declaration war, Battle of the Mediterranean - The French Mediterranean Fleet, Battle of the Mediterranean - Battle of Taranto, Battle of the Mediterranean - The Battle of Matapan, Battle of the Mediterranean - Crete, Battle of the Mediterranean - Malta, Battle of the Mediterranean - Major Allied operations

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Main article: Battle of Cape Matapan The Battle of Cape Matapan was a decisive Allied victory, fought off the coast of the Peloponnese in southern Greece from March 27 to March 29, 1941 in which British Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy forces under the command of the British Admiral Andrew Cunningham intercepted those of the Italian Regia Marina, under Admiral Angelo Iachino. The Allies sank the heavy cruisers Fiume, Zara and Pola and the destroyers Vittorio Alfieri and Giosue Carducci, and damaged the battleship Vittorio Veneto. The Br ...

See also:

Battle of the Mediterranean, Battle of the Mediterranean - Italy's declaration war, Battle of the Mediterranean - The French Mediterranean Fleet, Battle of the Mediterranean - Battle of Taranto, Battle of the Mediterranean - The Battle of Matapan, Battle of the Mediterranean - Crete, Battle of the Mediterranean - Malta, Battle of the Mediterranean - Major Allied operations

Read more here: » Battle of the Mediterranean: Encyclopedia II - Battle of the Mediterranean - The Battle of Matapan

At present 21 countries participate in the games: Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia Asia: Lebanon, Syria Europe: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cyprus, Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Monaco, San Marino, Serbia-Montenegro, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey. The only country bordering the Mediterranean Sea which does not participate is Israel. ...

See also:

Mediterranean Games, Mediterranean Games - Participating countries, Mediterranean Games - Host cities, Mediterranean Games - List of sports, Mediterranean Games - External link

Read more here: » Mediterranean Games: Encyclopedia II - Mediterranean Games - Participating countries