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The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998
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Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso
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Mediterranean
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1992-09-03
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Inland sea separating Europe from N Africa,
with Asia to the E; extreme length 3,700
km/2,300 mi; area 2,966,000 sq km/1,145,000
sq mi. It is linked to the Atlantic (at the
Strait of Gibraltar), Red Sea, and Indian
Ocean (by the Suez Canal), Black Sea (at the
Dardanelles and Sea of Marmara). The main
subdivisions are the Adriatic, Aegean,
Ionian, and Tyrrhenian seas. The
Mediterranean is almost tideless, saltier and
warmer than the Atlantic, and shallows from
Sicily to Cape Bon (Africa) divide it into an
E and W basin. It is endangered by human and
industrial waste pollution; 100 million
people live along the coast and it is
regularly crossed by oil tankers. The
Barcelona Convention 1976 to clean up the
Mediterranean was signed by 17 countries and
led to a ban on dumping of mercury, cadmium,
persistent plastics, DDT, crude oil, and
hydrocarbons.