Aegean Sea

Aegean Sea (Greek, Aigaion Pelagos), arm of the Mediterranean Sea, between Greece and Turkey. The name is variously explained in writings of antiquity as derived from Aegeus, king of Athens and father of Theseus, or from Aegea, a queen of the Amazons who drowned in the sea, or from an ancient Greek town named Aegae. The Aegean Sea is about 600 km (400 mi) long and about 300 km (200 mi) wide. It is connected with the Sea of Marmara to the north-east by the Strait of the Dardanelles. The Aegean Sea is irregular in outline with numerous gulfs, and is studded with islands, including the Sporades, Cyclades, and Dodecanese. The sunny weather, beaches, archaeological ruins, and beautiful islands draw many tourists to the Aegean each year. The Aegean civilizations are among the earliest known European civilizations. With the rise of the ancient Greek and Middle Eastern cultures, the lands surrounding the sea became the sites of widely differing civilizations, and the culture of the Aegean islands became identified with that of Greece.