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The Mediterranean is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia. It covers an approximate area of 2.5 million&_160;km² (965,000&_160;sq&_160;mi), but its connection to the Atlantic (the Strait of Gibraltar) is only 14 km (9&_160;mi) wide. In oceanography, it is sometimes called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea or the European Mediterranean Sea to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere. It was an important route for merchants and travelers of ancient times, allowing for trade and cultural exchange between emergent peoples of the region — the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Phoenician, Carthaginian, Greek, Levantine, Roman and Moorish cultures. The history of the Mediterranean region is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies. The term Mediterranean derives from the Latin word mediterraneus, meaning "in the middle of earth" (medius, "middle" + terra, "land, earth"). This is due to the sea's being surrounded by land (especially compared to the Atlantic Ocean). The Mediterranean Sea has been known by a number of alternative names throughout human history. It was, for example, commonly called Mare Nostrum (Latin, "Our Sea") and occasionally Mare Internum by the Romans (Sallust, Jug. 17). The Greeks name it Mesogeios (?es??e???), meaning "inland, interior" (µes?, "middle" + ?a???, "land, earth")[1]. In the Old Testament, on the west coast of the Holy Land, and therefore behind a person facing the east, it is called the "Hinder Sea", sometimes translated as "Western Sea", (Deut. 1124; Joel 220), and also the "Sea of the Philistines" (Exod. 2281), because that people occupied a large portion of its shores near the Israelites. Mostly, however, it was the "Great Sea" (Num. 346,7; Josh. 14, 91, 1547; Ezek. 4710,15,20), or simply "The Sea" (1 Kings 59; comp. 1 Macc. 1434, 1511). In Modern Hebrew, it is called Hayam Hatikhon (?????? ??????????), "the middle sea", a literal adaptation of the German equivalent Mittelmeer. In Turkish, it is Akdeniz, "the white sea". In modern Arabic, it is al-Bahr al-Abyad al-Mutawassit (????? ?????? ???????), "the Middle White Sea." In Islamic and older Arabic literature, it is known as bahr al-room (??? ?????), "the Roman Sea."
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