The Mediterranean countries are those that surround the Mediterranean Sea or located within the Mediterranean Basin. [1] Twenty sovereign countries in Southern Europe, Western Asia and North Africa regions border the sea itself, two island nations completely located in it (Malta and Cyprus), in addition to two British Overseas Territories ( Gibraltar in the west and Akrotiri & Dhekelia in the east).
While not having a coastline in the Mediterranean, Portugal, Andorra, San Marino, Vatican City, Kosovo, Serbia, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Romania, and Jordan are located within the Mediterranean Basin and are often included on the list of Mediterranean countries. [2] [3] Such classification is mostly based on their geographical, economic, geopolitical, historical, ethnic and cultural (language, art, music, cuisine) ties to the region as a whole. Other factors include climate and flora.
Below is the list of the countries and territories bordering the Mediterranean, listed clockwise from Gibraltar on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula:
Southern European coast, from west to east
Western Asian coast, from north to south
Northern African coast, from east to west
Below is the list of the countries and territories in the biogeographical Mediterranean Basin.
Southern Europe
Western Asia
Northern Africa
Each entry below presents a list of topics about a specific nation or state (country), followed by a link to the main article for that country. Entries for nations are in bold type, while those for subnational entities are in normal (unbolded) type.
Southern Europe is the southern region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Greece, Italy, Kosovo, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, southern France, Spain, Turkey, and Vatican City.
The European Union has a number of relationships with foreign states. According to the European Union's official site, and a statement by Commissioner Günter Verheugen, the aim is to have a ring of countries, sharing EU's democratic ideals and joining them in further integration without necessarily becoming full member states.
Europe, the westernmost portion of Eurasia, is often divided into regions and subregions based on geographical, cultural or historical factors. Since there is no universal agreement on Europe's regional composition, the placement of individual countries may vary based on criteria being used. For instance, the Balkans is a distinct geographical region within Europe, but individual countries may alternatively be grouped into South-eastern Europe or Southern Europe.
Akrotiri and Dhekelia, officially the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (SBA), is a British Overseas Territory on the island of Cyprus. The areas, which include British military bases and installations formerly part of the Crown colony of Cyprus, were retained by the British under the 1960 treaty of independence signed by the United Kingdom, Greece, Turkey and representatives from the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities. The territory serves an important role as a station for signals intelligence and provides a vital strategic part of the United Kingdom surveillance-gathering network in the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The first Mediterranean Games were held in 1951 in Alexandria, Egypt, while the most recent games were held in 2022 in Oran, Algeria.
A European microstate or European ministate is a very small sovereign state in Europe. In modern usage, it typically refers to the six smallest states in Europe by area: Andorra, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City. All except Malta and San Marino are monarchies. These states trace their status back to the first millennium or the early second millennium except for Liechtenstein, created in the 17th century.
UTC+02:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +02:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2020-11-08T23:41:45+02:00. This time is used in:
Akrotiri Bay is a part of the Mediterranean Sea east of the Akrotiri Peninsula on the southern coast of the island of Cyprus. The Western Sovereign Base Area of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, a British Overseas Territory set up after Cypriot independence was gained and was unanimously agreed with the British Empire that sovereign bases could be set up for use in the event of an invasion, administered as a Sovereign Base Area, borders the bay. The city of Limassol is also located on the bay. The southern end of the bay is formed by Cape Gata.
The European Broadcasting Area (EBA) is defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as such:
This is a list of articles holding galleries of maps of present-day countries and dependencies. The list includes all countries listed in the List of countries, the French overseas departments, the Spanish and Portuguese overseas regions and inhabited overseas dependencies.
The law of Europe refers to the legal systems of Europe. Europe saw the birth of both the Roman Empire and the British Empire, which form the basis of the two dominant forms of legal system of private law, civil and common law.
The European Union Customs Union (EUCU), formally known as the Community Customs Union, is a customs union which consists of all the member states of the European Union (EU), Monaco, and the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia. Some detached territories of EU states do not participate in the customs union, usually as a result of their geographic separation. In addition to the EUCU, the EU is in customs unions with Andorra, San Marino and Turkey, through separate bilateral agreements.
Sovereign Base Areas Customs and Immigration is a semi-autonomous branch of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) of the United Kingdom. It has jurisdiction over Akrotiri and Dhekelia, a British Overseas Territory on the island of Cyprus, administered as a Sovereign Base Area, and home to British Forces Cyprus. It is managed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and around 3,500 military personnel are posted there at any one time.
The International Committee of Mediterranean Games is the organization of the National Olympic Committees who presides, regulates and organizes the Mediterranean Games. It is based in sport complex OACA in Athens.
This is a list of countries and territories in Europe by population density. Data are from the United Nations unless otherwise specified.
The British Overseas Territories maintain their own entry requirements different from the visa policy of the United Kingdom. As a general rule, British citizens do not have automatic right of abode in these territories.
The borders of Akrotiri and Dhekelia refer to the international boundary between the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia and the republic of Cyprus.
the Eastern Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous-broadleaf forest ecoregion, which extends slightly into Iraq