Ionian Sea

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Ionian Sea
Ionian Sea borders.png
Boundaries of Ionian Sea: red lines define border per International Hydrographic Organization
Location Southern Europe
Coordinates 38°N19°E / 38°N 19°E / 38; 19
Type Sea
Primary outflows Mediterranean Sea
Basin  countries Albania, Greece, and Italy
Islands List of islands in the Ionian Sea
Settlements Igoumenitsa, Parga, Preveza, Astakos, Patras, Kerkyra, Lefkada, Argostoli, Zakynthos, Kyparissia, Pylos, Kalamata, Himarë, Sarandë, Syracuse, Catania, Taormina, Messina, Catanzaro, Crotone, Taranto
Location
Ionian Sea
The Ionian Sea, view from the island Kefalonia, Greece Kipouria1.JPG
The Ionian Sea, view from the island Kefalonia, Greece
The Ionian Sea, as seen from Corfu Island, Greece, and with Sarande, Albania in the background Mainland seen from Corfu.jpg
The Ionian Sea, as seen from Corfu Island, Greece, and with Sarandë, Albania in the background

The Ionian Sea [1] is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, and the Salento peninsula to the west, southern Albania (and western Apulia, Italy) to the north, and the west coast of Greece, including the Peloponnese.

Contents

All major islands in the sea, which are located in the east of the sea, belong to Greece. They are collectively named the Ionian Islands, the main ones being Corfu, Kefalonia, Zakynthos, Lefkada, and Ithaca.

There are ferry routes between Patras and Igoumenitsa, Greece, and Brindisi and Ancona, Italy, that cross the east and north of the Ionian Sea, and from Piraeus westward. Calypso Deep, the deepest point in the Mediterranean at 5,109 m (16,762 ft), is in the Ionian Sea, at 36°34′N21°8′E / 36.567°N 21.133°E / 36.567; 21.133 . [2] [3] The sea is one of the most seismically active areas in the world.

Etymology

The name Ionian comes from the Greek word Ionion (Ἰόνιον). Its etymology is unknown. [4] Ancient Greek writers, especially Aeschylus, linked it to the myth of Io. In ancient Greek the adjective Ionios (Ἰόνιος) was used as an epithet for the sea because Io swam across it. [5] [6] [7] According to the Oxford Classical Dictionary , the name may derive from Ionians who sailed to the West, [8] however the word for Ionians is spelled with an omega ( Ἴωνες) rather than an omicron as in the word for the Ionian Sea. There were also narratives about other eponymic legendary figures; [9] according to one version, Ionius was a son of Adrias (eponymic for the Adriatic Sea); according to another, Ionius was a son of Dyrrhachus. [10] When Dyrrhachus was attacked by his own brothers, Heracles, who was passing through the area, came to his aid, but in the fight the hero killed his ally's son by mistake. The body was cast into the water, and thereafter was called the Ionian Sea.

Geography

Extent

The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Ionian Sea as follows: [11]

On the North. A line running from the mouth of the Butrinto River (39°44'N) in Albania, to Cape Karagol in Corfu (39°45'N), along the North Coast of Corfu to Cape Kephali (39°45'N) and from thence to Cape Santa Maria di Leuca in Italy.
On the East. From the mouth of the Butrinto River in Albania down the coast of the mainland to Cape Matapan.
On the South. A line from Cape Matapan to Cape Passero, the Southern point of Sicily.
On the West. The East coast of Sicily and the Southeast coast of Italy to Cape Santa Maria di Leuca.

Places

Gjipe in the south of Albania where the Adriatic Sea meets the Ionian Sea Gjipe beach, Albania.JPG
Gjipe in the south of Albania where the Adriatic Sea meets the Ionian Sea
The Ionian Sea, view from the island Lefkada, Greece Ionian sea islands, pic1.JPG
The Ionian Sea, view from the island Lefkada, Greece
Cape Drastis and the Ionian Sea, Corfu Island CapeDrastisCorfuJuly122022 02.jpg
Cape Drastis and the Ionian Sea, Corfu Island

From south to north in the west, then north to south in the east:

Gulfs and straits

Islands

Islets

History

The sea is famous for the seafaring adventures of the Ancient Greek hero Odysseus, the warrior-king of the island of Ithaca. [12]

The Ionian Sea was regularly crossed since at least the 8th century BC, by ancient Greek colonizers who were establishing colonies in Italy. [13]

During the Roman period, it was the location of the Battle of Actium between Octavian and Mark Antony in 31 BC. [14]

A number of major naval engagements would be fought over the eastern section of the sea and its islands throughout the modern era, culminating in its control by the modern state of Greece. The western section of the Ionian sea was always controlled since the Middle Ages by the kingdom of the Two Sicilies and since 1861 by the Kingdom of Italy [15] .

Notes

    References

    1. ↑ (Modern Greek : Ιόνιο Πέλαγος, romanized: Iónio Pélagos, IPA: [iˈoni.oˈpelaɣos] ; Italian : Mar Ionio or Mar Jonio, IPA: [marˈjɔːnjo] ; Albanian : Deti Jon, IPA: [ˈdɛtiˈjɔn] )
    2. ↑ Gade, Martin (March 15, 2008). "The European Marginal and Enclosed Seas: An Overview". In Barale, Vittorio (ed.). Remote Sensing of the European Seas. Springer Science+Business Media. pp. 3–22. ISBN   978-1-4020-6771-6. LCCN   2007942178 . Retrieved August 28, 2009.
    3. ↑ "NCMR - MAP". National Observatory of Athens . Archived from the original on August 28, 2009. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
    4. ↑ Babiniotis, Lexiko tis Neoellinikis Glossas.
    5. ↑ Jakub Pigoń (18 December 2008). The Children of Herodotus: Greek and Roman Historiography and Related Genres. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 114. ISBN   978-1-4438-0251-2.
    6. ↑ Liddel & Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon Ἰόνιος.
    7. ↑ John Freely (30 April 2008). The Ionian Islands: Corfu, Cephalonia and Beyond. I.B.Tauris. p. 10. ISBN   978-0-85771-828-0.
    8. ↑ John Keahey (15 July 2014). A Sweet and Glorious Land: Revisiting the Ionian Sea. St. Martin's Press. p. 116. ISBN   978-1-4668-7603-3.
    9. ↑ Charles Anthon (1869). A Classical Dictionary Containing an Account of the Principal Proper Names Mentioned in Ancient Authors [and Intended to Elucidate All the Important Points Connected with the Geography, History, Biography, Mythology, and Fine Arts of the Greeks and Romans: Together with an Account of Coins, Weights, and Measures, with Tabular Values of the Same]. Harper [& Brothers]. p.  679.
    10. ↑ Gocha R. Tsetskhladze (2008). Greek Colonisation: An Account of Greek Colonies and Other Settlements Overseas. BRILL. p. 157. ISBN   978-90-04-15576-3.
    11. ↑ Limits of Oceans and Seas (PDF) (3rd ed.). Organisation hydrographique internationale. 1953. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 8, 2011. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
    12. ↑ "Odysseus | Myth, Significance, Trojan War, & Odyssey | Britannica". 29 April 2023.
    13. ↑ "Greek colonization". Museum of Cycladic Art . Retrieved 2025-02-11.
    14. ↑ "Battle of Actium | ancient Roman history | Britannica". 2 June 2023.
    15. ↑ Freiwald A., Boetius A. and G. Bohrmann, 2011. Deep water ecosystems of the Eastern Mediterranean C. No. 70, Leg 1 - 3. METEOR-Berichte, 11-5
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