Aegean Sea

The Aegean Sea is located between the coasts of Greece and Turkey and the islands of Crete and Rhodes. Its covers an area of 210 square kilometers; its maximum depth is 3,543 meters, found to the east of Crete. More than two thousand islands of varying sizes, most of which belong to Greece, are scattered throughout the Aegean. Some, such as Lesbos, Chios, Rhodes, and Crete, are of substantial size and sustain significant populations. Many islands and islets, however, are too small and barren to sustain human habitation.

The prevailing winds in the Aegean Sea are northerly, dry, and relatively cold. During the mild winter season, these alternate with milder northwesterly winds. As with much of the Mediterranean, the Aegean is considered to be poor in resources. The flow of colder and less saline water from the Black Sea

through the Turkish straits (the Bosporus and the Dardanelles) and the Sea of Marmara tends to cool the water temperatures and reduce the high salinity of the Aegean Sea. This flow of water and the fish that migrate from the Black Sea through the Turkish straits have had a positive effect on the fish resources of the Aegean. On the other hand, the Aegean has been adversely affected by the increasing levels of pollution in the Black Sea as well as in other adjoining seas. In the Aegean, illegal dumping of waste materials by both Greek and Turkish industries has contributed to the pollution, with harmful effects on marine resources.

Increased shipping from ports in the Black Sea and the prospect of considerably higher tanker traffic carrying Caspian and Central Asian oil through the Aegean have generated fears in Greece and Turkey, as well as among environmentalists, of still more acute threats to the ecosystem and cleanliness of the Aegean.

Modest deposits of petroleum have been discovered and exploited off the coast of the island of Thassos, and some experts have predicted more extensive discoveries elsewhere in the Aegean. However, disputes between Greece and Turkey over the limits of territorial seas and sovereign rights over the continental shelf have prevented explorations for oil and gas in much of the sea that remains outside the six-mile territorial seas that both countries maintain in the Aegean. The settlement of disputed maritime issues related to the continental shelf and territorial sea entitlement of the two neighbors will open the door to greater exploration activity for oil and gas in the Aegean. No less important, improved relations between Greece and Turkey will yield greater cooperation to help resolve the increasingly serious threats to the environment of the Aegean.

Kariotis, Theodore C., ed. (1997) Greece and the Law of the Sea. The Hague, Netherlands: Kluwer Law International.

Ozturk, Bayram, ed. (2000) The Aegean Sea: Proceedings of the International Symposium on the Aegean Sea. Istanbul, Turkey: Turkish Marine Research Foundation.

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