The Mediterranean The Greatest Sea - COFFEY NOTES€¦ · Mediterranean –Great in size and impact Greatest sea in size –2,500 by 500 miles Area of million square miles –size

The Mediterranean – The Greatest Sea

Joe CoffeyHernando, FL

Email: [email protected]: coffeynotes.com

• Welcome – thanks for coming! Hope to meet you personally during the cruise

• My topic is the waters and Islands we are cruising – The Mediterranean: The

Greatest Sea

• My goal is to provide an appreciation of this Greatest Sea

• The Mediterranean is the greatest sea in size and its shores connect 3

continents and were source of civilizations and religion

• Its significance is signaled by the names used since ancient times: “Middle of the

Earth” and the “Great Sea.”

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Mediterranean – Great in size and impact

◼ Greatest sea in size – 2,500 by 500 miles

◼ Area of million square miles – size of Argentina

◼ Shores connect 3 continents and 22 countries

◼ 250 million population in coastal regions

◼ 3,300 islands – over 12 million people & 40,000 sq. mi. area – size of Switzerland

◼ 320 million tourists in region

◼ Travel & tourism is 10 to 20% of GDP of major European countries on borders

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The Mediterranean

◼ Greatest sea in size – 2,500 by 500 miles

◼ Area of million square miles – size of Argentina

◼ Shores connect 3 continents and 22 countries

◼ 250 million population in coastal regions

◼ 3,300 islands – largest 190 has 12 million people & 40,000 sq. mi. area – size of Switzerland

◼ 320 million tourists in region in 2015

◼ Travel & tourism is 10 to 20% of GDP of major European countries on borders

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“Vast, complex

expanse“

◼ The great French Historian Fernand Braudel (1902-85) expressed in The Mediterranean:

◼ No single Mediterranean Sea but a "vast, complex expanse”

◼ Life is conducted on the Mediterranean: people travel, fish, fight wars, and drown

◼ The sea articulates with the plains and islands

◼ Mediterranean cannot be understood independently from what is exterior to it

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No single Mediterranean Sea but a "vast, complex expanse“

• Life is conducted on the Mediterranean: people travel, fish, fight wars, and drown

◼ The sea articulates with the plains and islands

◼ Mediterranean cannot be understood independently from what is exterior to it.

◼ Views of French Historian Fernand Braudel (1902-85) one of the greatest of the modern historians, who wrote the renown book The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II, 1949

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Mediterranean’s significance

◼ Source of western culture & religion: “The grand object … is to see the shores of the Mediterranean. On those shores were four great empires of the world: Egyptian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman. Almost all religion, law, and art … come from those shores.”-Dr. Samuel Johnson

◼ Size & location: “Middle sea” - bounded by Europe on north, Africa on south, and Asia on east. Cradle of cultures, highway for trade and cultural exchange, and battleground of empires

◼ Growth of civilization: For 5,000 years central link in spread of civilization, religion, political alliances and conflicts, and commerce

◼ Today: Roiled by immigrants, Middle East unrest, Russian aggression …

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Mediterranean’s significance

◼ Source of western culture & religion: “The grand object … is to see the shores of the Mediterranean. On those shores were four great empires of the world: Egyptian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman. Almost all religion, law, and art … come from those shores.”-Dr. Samuel Johnson

◼ Size & location: “Middle sea” - bounded by Europe on north, Africa on south, and Asia on east. Cradle of cultures, highway for trade and cultural exchange, and battleground of empires

◼ Growth of civilization: For 5,000 years central link in spread of civilization, religion, political alliances and conflicts, and commerce

◼ Today: Roiled by immigrants, Middle East unrest, Russian aggression

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Mediterranean’s famous cultures, heroes, and legacies

◼ Early cultures: Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Canaanite, Phoenician, Hebrew, Carthaginian, Greek, Persian, Thracian, Etruscan, Iberian, Roman, Byzantine, Bulgarian, Arab, Ottoman, Christian and Islamic cultures.

◼ People – Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Charlemagne, Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Aristotle, Galileo, Alexander the Great, Jesus, Muhammad, the Pope, Dante, the Medici’s, Thomas Aquinas, Herodotus, Homer, Pericles, Solon …

◼ Legacies: Christianity, Islam, alphabet, engineering, art, architecture, finance, wine, philosophy, science, law, universities …

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Mediterranean’s famous cultures, heroes, and legacies

◼ Early cultures: Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Canaanite, Phoenician, Hebrew, Carthaginian, Greek, Persian, Thracian, Etruscan, Iberian, Roman, Byzantine, Bulgarian, Arab, Ottoman, Christian and Islamic cultures.

◼ People – Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Charlemagne, Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Aristotle, Galileo, Alexander the Great, Jesus, Muhammad, the Pope, Dante, the Medici’s, Thomas Aquinas, Herodotus, Homer, Pericles, Solon …

◼ Legacies: Christianity, Islam, alphabet, engineering, art, architecture, finance, wine, philosophy, science, law, universities …

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Landmarks Mediterranean civilizations

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Pyramids of Giza (2500 BC) Acropolis, Athens (500 AD)

Coliseum of Rome (70-80 AD) Ephesus (1000 BC)

Landmarks Mediterranean civilizations

• Acropolis of Athens - ancient citadel who Pericles (495–429 BC)

coordinated the construction of the site's most important present

remains

• Egyptian pyramids - at Giza, near Cairo - among the largest

structures ever built.

• The Coliseum of Rome seated 80,000 and used for gladiatorial

contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts,

executions

• Ephesus in Turkey built in 10th century, famed for Temple of Artemis

and Library of Celsus , and site of several Christian Councils

• Other noted sites include: Alexandria, Constantinople, Venice, Florence,

Sicily, Milan, Carthage, Jerusalem, Barcelona, Pompeii …

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But civilizations are more than architecture or seas

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Code of

Hammurabi

Greek School

•Complex Institutions

•Laws important as walls

•Constitution as important as palaces

But Civilizations Are More Than Architecture or Seas

• In his book, Niall Ferguson, Civilization: The West and the Rest, Allen

Lane, 2011, pages 1-3 stresses, civilizations are not just art and

architecture or contents of a few first-rate art galleries

• But highly complex human organizations of economic, social and

political institutions

• Success is measured not just in its aesthetic achievements but in quality

of life of its citizens.

• A city’s laws are as important as its walls

• Its constitution and customs as important as its palaces

• A good reminder to us travelers that we need to marvel not only the

tangible structures we see, but the people and circumstances that

created them

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Spread of Religions’ ambivalent role

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• Founded universities, yet burned scientists

• Advanced engineering yet limited economy

• Supported printing, yet burned books

• Preached equality yet accepted slavery

• Accompanied merchants, yet condemned lending

Spread of Religions’ ambivalent role

• Maps trace spread of Christianity and Islam around Mediterranean

• But religion has had ambivalent role in progress and prosperity

• Founded earliest universities, yet burned scientists at stake

• Religious architecture and objects (e.g. churches & bells) spurred

advance of engineering, metallurgy and printing, yet squandered and

monopolized economic activity

• Reformation reduced corruption of church but also led to book burning

and limiting printing presses

• Church preached equality yet accepted slavery and owned slaves

• Missionaries spread global contact and merchants spread religion, yet

religion condemned lending and love of money

• Had big impact: “Economic change … depends … on what people

believe….” Mokyr, The Enlightened Economy, p 1

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History of Mediterranean region crucial to understanding origins and development of many modern societies

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• Etruscans (1000 BC) had sophisticated lives

• Phoenicians (800 BC) spread across Mediterranean

• Greece under Alexander Hellenized region by 332 BC

• Next 400 years, Rome controlled Med

History of Mediterranean region crucial to understanding origins and

development of many modern societies

• The Etruscans-in Western Italy by 1000 BC when Rome was a village and

developed a sophisticated way of life and control

• Phoenicians/Carthaginians-originated in Lebanon and spread to Carthage in 800

BC with settlements in Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, southern Spain, and Cyprus and

fought 3 Punic Wars with the Romans

• Greek city-states created throughout the region. Were Threatened by Persia in

480 BC but prevailed.

• Greek city-states were rife with conflict until Alexander Hellenized the region,

defeated the Persians in 332 BC and swept from Egypt to India

• Alexander died and Hellenic Empire was divided with the Ptolemies ruling Egypt

from 323-31 BC

• Romans conquered and Romanized the Hellenic empire

• For the next 400 years, the Roman Empire completely controlled the

Mediterranean Sea and virtually all its coastal regions from Gibraltar to the

Levant.

• Empires rise because of their geography, and their development of energy,

organization, war making, and information technology

• Empires fall because they can’t overcome Invasions, diseases and disasters,

and human failings

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“Our Sea” – Roman Lake for 400 years

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“Our Sea” – the Roman Lake

• For 400 years, the Roman Empire completely controlled Mediterranean Sea –

empire surrounded the sea

• Surface area is million square miles – size of worlds 10th largest country and

averages nearly 5,000 feet deep

• Some 3,300 Islands

• Connected to Atlantic Ocean by the narrow 9-mile wide Strait of Gibraltar,

otherwise almost completely enclosed by land

• An important route for merchants and travelers of ancient times, facilitating trade

and cultural exchange between peoples of the region.

• The sea was an important route for merchants and travelers of ancient times,

facilitating trade and cultural exchange between peoples of the region.

• Notable early Mediterranean civilizations were Greek, Phoenician and Roman

which spread all around and called it "Our Sea"

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Mediterranean favored by “Lucky Latitudes”

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Mediterranean

Ian Morris, Why the West Rules, development

kick-started by favorable geography - access

to sea transport, mild climate, and seafood

Mediterranean is in the Lucky Latitudes

• The success of the Mediterranean region has been helped by its geography

• Ian Morris in Why the West Rules–For Now, argues that social development

was initially kick-started by the geography of the “lucky latitudes”: 20°-35°

north in the Old World which includes the Mediterranean region

• Access to sea transport facilitated trade as land transport prior to the advent

of railroads, was much more expensive

• Land-locked countries face handicaps and generally developed slower

• While important to the early rise of the Mediterranean, after all, if don’t have a

favorable climate, like Arctic, or Sahara Desert or Pyrenees it’s hard to create

an agricultural surplus that frees some do something other than hunt and

gather

• But geography is not the final destiny, for example the geography of Japan

and Switzerland

• Nor does geography change much

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Europe gained control in 1571 over Ottoman

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•Crusades led to flourishing trade

•1453 Ottoman’s conquered Byzantine Empire

•Ottomans controlled much of Med in 16th c.

•Europe’s win at Lepanto (1571) checked Ottomans

History of Mediterranean region crucial to understanding origins and

development of many modern societies

• Crusades led to flourishing of trade

• Ottoman power based in Anatolia continued to grow, and in 1453

extinguished the Byzantine Empire with the Conquest of

Constantinople.

• Ottomans gained control of much of the sea in the 16th century and

maintained naval bases in southern France (1543–1544), Algeria and

Tunisia.

• As naval prowess of Europe increased, at Battle of Lepanto (1571)

checked the power Ottomans

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Mediterranean attracts people and commerce

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People gather at the waterside – Population density around

Mediterranean

• Importance of sea access is illustrated in this map of

population density

• High population density, indicated by increasingly dark colors,

is close to the waterside.

• This not only for travel and transport, but also a source of fish

for food

• However overfishing has reduced fish stock levels

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Mediterranean: Diverse, busy and conflicted

◼ Culturally diverse sea region: pleasant climate, beautiful coastline, rich history and various cultures

◼ Farming important: olives, oranges and world’s most important wine-growing region

◼ Busy shipping routes: 220,000 merchant vessels - one third of world’s merchant shipping.

◼ Popular tourist destination: 1/3 of international tourists

◼ Discovery of natural gas and oil: causing a conflicts but may ease Europe’s energy dependence on Russia

◼ Overfishing: 65% of fish stocks below safe biological limits and catch size and quality have declined 14

Mediterranean: Diverse, busy and conflicted

• Culturally diverse sea region: pleasant climate, beautiful

coastline, rich history and various cultures

• Farming important: olives, oranges and world’s most important

wine-growing region

• Busy shipping routes: 220,000 merchant vessels - one third of

world’s merchant shipping.

• Popular tourist destination: 1/3 of international tourists

• Discovery of natural gas and oil: causing a conflicts but may

ease Europe’s energy dependence on Russia

• Overfishing: 65% of fish stocks below safe biological limits and

catch size and quality have declined

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Gibraltar 8-mile wide naval choke point

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•Half world's sea trade• “The Rock” or “Pillars of Hercules” - edge of known world

•Ceded to UK by Spain, but Spain still claims

• Important WW II British Navy control

•Now tourist, online gambling, financial services and ship refueling

Gibraltar choke point

• Population of 32,000 and area of 2.6 sq. mi., one of world’s most densely

populated territories

• Gibraltar Strait - only 8 miles wide, a naval choke point

• Half world's seaborne trade passes through the strait

• “The Rock” – has labyrinth inside of secret roads and tunnels and views of

famous monkeys

• Known as Pillars of Hercules – edge of Mediterranean and known world

• Strategically important for shipping

• Ceded to Great Britain by Spain in the 1713, but contested as Spain still

claims sovereignty

• Top of Rock a British military installation and off-limits

• WW II important base for the Royal Navy as it controlled the entrance and

exit to the Mediterranean Sea,

• Economy based on tourism, online gambling, financial services and ship

refueling

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Islands of Mediterranean

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Portimao

Olbia

La Spezia Olbia, Sardinia, Italy: Beach city of 60,000 on 2nd largest island

Calvi, Corsica, France, formerly Italy. Napoleon & Columbus home

Ibiza, Spain: Town of 50,000, World Heritage site with active nightlife. Phoenician trading post, occupied by Romans, Greeks, Muslims, Norwegians and finally Spain.

Palma, Spain: City of 410,000 on Balearic Islands. Founded by Romans. Once a pirate hangout and silk exchange, now tourist mecca.

Islands of Mediterranean

• Ibiza, Spain: Town of 50,000 on 220 sq. mi. rock island of Balearics.

World Heritage site with active nightlife. Phoenician trading post 2,500

years ago and occupied by Romans, Greeks, Muslims, Norwegians

and finally Spain.

• Palma, Spain: City of 410,000 on Balearic Islands. Founded by

Romans, occupied by Byzantines, Moors, , French, Vikings, … and

Spain. Once a pirate hangout and silk exchange and now a tourist

mecca.

• Calvi, Corsica, France, formerly Italy. Both Napoleon & Columbus from the Island. Town of 6,000 Both Christopher Columbus and Napoleon

was born on Corsica. Has Italian cultural elements and long history.

• Olbia, Sardinia, Italy: Beach city of 60,000 on 2nd Med’s largest island of 1.7 million with stone towers/fortress ancient Nuragic civilization

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Union for the Mediterranean

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◼ 43 members - 28 EU + 15 Mediterranean

◼ Founded in 2008 to promote stability, integration, & development

◼ Daunting - in view of terrorism, civil wars, & immigration

Union for the Mediterranean

• 43 member states - 28 EU and 15 Mediterranean partner countries from

North Africa, Western Asia and Southern Europe.

• Founded in 2008 to reinforce Euro-Mediterranean Partnership of 1995

• Aims to promote stability and integration across the Mediterranean and

support development and ensure stability in the region

• President Macron of France sees the need to “define a Mediterranean policy"

Source: Union for the Mediterranean, Wikipedia

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Even a Mediterranean Economic Model

◼ Mediterranean: Like Continental but focuses welfare on generous state-pensions, inflexible labor market with job protectionism

◼ Anglo-Saxon: Welfare state, but less comprehensive than Nordic & Continental

◼ Continental: Job protection, heavy regulation, generous unemployment benefits and health care

◼ Nordic Model: Corporatist’ with strong influence of labor unions and employers' organizations, government-funded welfare generous

unemployment benefits and retraining and high and progressive taxes

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Even a Mediterranean Economic Model

• Mediterranean: Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal - similar to

Continental but focuses welfare on generous state-pensions,

inflexible labor market with job protectionism

• Anglo-Saxon: UK, Canada & Ireland: Welfare state, but less

comprehensive than Nordic & Continental

• Continental: Austria, France, Germany, Belgium - job protection,

heavy regulation, generous unemployment benefits and health

care

• Nordic Model: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland &

Netherlands – corporatist’ with strong influence of labor unions

and employers' organizations, government-funded welfare

generous unemployment benefits and retraining and high and

progressive taxes.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_model#Mediterranean

Mediterranean: Summary & Conclusions

◼ Cradle and crucible where empires rose, fell and fought

◼ Origin, source and once center of western culture

◼ But power moved northwest after Age of Discovery and Industrial Revolution

◼ Still world’s largest and busiest sea

◼ A new role in 21st century?

◼ From a cradle & crucible to conciliator of civilizations –bridging East-West & North-South divides (but Brexit)

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EU expansion?

The Mediterranean – Summary & Conclusions

◼ Cradle and crucible where empires rose, fell and fought

◼ Origin, source and once center of western culture

◼ But power moved northwest after Age of Discovery and Industrial Revolution

◼ Still world’s largest and busiest sea

◼ A new role in 21st century?

◼ From a cradle & crucible to conciliator of civilizations – bridging East-West & North-South divides (but Brexit)

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Country 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2005 2000

Croatia 24.9 24.7 24 23.4 22.7 22.1 20.7 21.7 20.3 24.5 14.7

Greece 20.6 20 19.1 19.2 18.2 17.4 15.7 16 15.6 16.5 16

Portugal 19.1 17.9 17.7 17.1 17.2 16.0 15.4 14.7 13.8 11.7 11.9

Spain 14.6 14.5 14.2 14 14.1 13.8 13.8 13.5 13.3 15.0 14.7

Italy 13.2 13.0 12.7 12.7 12.1 11.7 11.1 10.5 9.9 11.1 13.3

Egypt 11.9 10.9 7.4 8.7 9.1 9.2 11.9 12.8 16.7 19.1 14.1

UK 11.0 11.0 10.5 10.1 9.9 10.4 10.5 10.0 9.5 11.3 14.4

France 9.5 9.4 9.3 9.5 9.5 9.6 9.1 9.8 9.1 9.6 11.1

Germany 8.6 8.7 8.6 8.6 8.5 8.3 8.3 8.3 8.6 10.1 11.1

US 7.8 7.9 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.8 7.7 7.4 8.1 8.9

Travel and tourism (% of GDP)

https://knoema.com/atlas/topics/Tourism/Travel-and-Tourism-Total-Contribution-to-GDP/Contribution-

of-travel-and-tourism-to-GDP-percent-of-GDP

Appendix of Supplemental Data

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Country 2018

Greece 20.6

Portugal 19.1

Spain 14.6

Italy 13.2

Egypt 11.9

UK 11

France 9.5

Germany 8.6

US 7.8

Travel and

tourism (%

of GDP)

https://knoema.com/atlas/topi

cs/Tourism/Travel-and-

Tourism-Total-Contribution-to-

GDP/Contribution-of-travel-

https://www.mgi.online/content/2017/8/4/tourism-in-the-mediterranean

The Mediterranean welcomed 320 million tourists in 2015 double the number of 1995

travel and tourism accounts for from 10 to 20% of GDP of the major European countries bordering the Mediterranean


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West’s power shifted from Mediterranean after 1500s

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West’s power centered around Mediterranean prior to shifting north and west

after 1400s

• This map highlights the sift in the power of the West from east to west over 2000

years as explained by Ian Morris, in Why the West Rules-For Now, page 13

• Orange marks the 12,400 years from 11,000 BC-1400 AD – east Mediterranean,

Iraq, Egypt, and Greece triangle. Most lived in countryside and in agriculture

• Blue marks the 250 BC-250 AD when Roman Empire flourished

• Green marks the shift north and west after the discovery of the new world and the

Industrial Revolution, Center shifted north and Mediterranean declined.

• In 16th and 17th centuries Dutch became leader

• In 18th century British incomes rose above the Dutch

• Industrial Revolution - capstone to northern shift

• Opening of Suez Canal in 1869 facilitated North Atlantic trade

• Red marks the shift toward the US after the 1900s

• The big point is that the Mediterranean and Europe have been the center of he

Western World’s power for many centuries – up until the 1990s

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Why Europe’s economic center shifted north after 1400

◼ Mediterranean was power center in Middle Ages

◼ Most lived in countryside and in agriculture

◼ Center shifted north and Mediterranean declined

◼ In 16th and 17th centuries Dutch became leader

◼ In 18th century British incomes rose above the Dutch

◼ Industrial Revolution - capstone to northern shift

◼ Opening of Suez Canal in 1869 facilitated North Atlantic trade

◼ North Atlantic – became center of world for 500 years

Robert C. Allen, The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective, Cambridge University Press,

2009, Chapter 1 23


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Mediterranean’s 20th century struggle◼ 1914-18: World War I

◼ 1923: Ottoman Empire dissolved & Turkey created

◼ 1929-39:Great Depression, Nazism & Fascism

◼ 1939-45:World War II

◼ 1947-89: Cold War

◼ 1958: Founding of EU

◼ 1973: Arab-Israel war

◼ 1979: Islamic (Iranian) Revolution

◼ 1989: Collapse of Soviet Union

◼ 1990-91: Gulf War

◼ 2002-?: Iraq War

◼ 2008-?: EU Financial and Immigration crises24


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Future of Mediterranean: Bridge, moat or cruise boat?

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Future of Mediterranean: Bridge, moat or cruise boat?

◼ EU migration crisis began in 2015 and peaked in 2016

◼ Most arrivals at Mediterranean - Greece, Italy & Spain

◼ Main cause was Syrian war which displaced 11.6 mil. How to absorb & integrate?

◼ Most immigrants are Muslims which creates public anxiety and anti-immigrant political backlash, even threatens solidarity of EU

◼ Since WW II, Mediterranean been crisscrossed by gas pipelines, container ships, cruise liners and flimsy boats of illegal immigrants bound for Europe.

◼ Great British historian of Mediterranean, the late John Julius Norwich of Oxford University, worries that it may become a tourist playground and lose it’s historic significance

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Sources: “Wave of optimism falters in Mediterranean,” by Victor Mallet, Financial Times, April 26, 2010 and Source: “Refugees and Global Migration” by Karen Jacobsen, Great Decisions 2019

Rivieras and Islands of Mediterranean

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Monaco

St Tropez

Calvi

Elba

Portofino

Sardinia

Corsica


Coastline and Islands of Mediterranean

• Italy’s Sardinia is the 2nd largest Island in Mediterranean with population of 1.7

million and has been settled since pre-history and has stone towers/fortress

remaining of the ancient Nuragic civilization

• Olbia Sardinian - city of 60000 in northeastern Sardinia - a tourist destination

thanks to its sea and beaches

• Calva is a Small town of 6000 on the French Island of Corsica. According to

legend, Christopher Columbus supposedly came from Calvi, which at the time was

part of the Genoese Empire. It is an area of summer tourism.

• Corsica a French Island where in 1769.Napoleon Bonaparte was born the city of

Ajaccio, - today a s visitor attraction and museum. Due to Corsica's historical ties

with the Italian peninsula, the island retains many Italian cultural elements. Has

population of 330,000.

• Elba – Small Italian Island of 30,000 people where Napoleon was exiled 1814

along with his personal guard of 600 men. He stayed on the island, carrying out

reforms and after 300 days escaped to France

◼ Calvi: City on the French island of Corsica, and its biggest tourist centre

◼ Because of Corsica's strategic location, Calvi has a rich and checkered history dating date back to Neolithic period

◼ First recorded history was 1000 BC, when Romans brought agriculture

◼ Invaded many times but, had popular saying: often conquered, never enslaved

◼ Until 1729 was part of the Genoese empire

◼ Claimed that Columbus came from there (a large statue commemorates this legend).

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Ibiza’s fortified Old Town

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Ibiza & Palma Mallorca Spain

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Corsica: laid-back French island, with a breezy vibe

◼ Island in Mediterranean - designated territorial collectivity that enjoys a greater degree of autonomy than other French regions

◼ Population of 330,000 and area of 3,351 sq. miles

◼ After being ruled by Republic of Genoa since 1284, was briefly an Italian-speaking independent republic from 1755

◼ Ceded to Louis XV as part of a pledge for debts and conquered in 1769

◼ Napoleon Bonaparte’s ancestral home - a significant visitor attraction and museum

◼ Due to historical ties with the Italian peninsula, still retains many Italian cultural elements

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Sardinia Island of Italy

◼ 2nd largest island in Mediterranean (after Sicily) – 9,300 sq. mi.

◼ Population of 1.7 mil., with one of world’s lowest birthrates and rapidly aging populations

◼ During WW II, important military base and heavily bombed by Allies

◼ Today, phasing into EU

◼ Economy focused on tourism

◼ Economic progress past 20 years have reduced its insularity, thanks to travel and information technology

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Documents

The Mediterranean The Greatest Sea - COFFEY NOTES€¦ · Mediterranean –Great in size and impact Greatest sea in size –2,500 by 500 miles Area of million square miles –size