1)The Romans thought the sea was, literally, the middle of the earth. 
Because of this, they first called the Mediterranean “mediterraneus”—Latin for “middle of the earth.”

2)Today, the sea touches three continents and 21 modern states, including 11 countries in Europe, five in Asia and five in Africa.
The Mediterranean Sea is sub-divided into a number of smaller seas, each with their own designation

3)The Mediterranean region is the most popular tourist destination in the world—attracting approximately one third of the world’s international tourists. 
The Mediterranean region is the leading tourist destination. Tourism is mainly concentrated in thecoastal areas which receive 30% of international tourist arrivals. The most widely used tourism development model used in the region is based on seaside summer holidays and the attainment ofquantitative goals. 

4)Some of the world’s busiest shipping routes are in the Mediterranean Sea. 
It is estimated that approximately 220,000 merchant vessels of more than 100 tonnes cross the Mediterranean Sea each year—about one third of the world’s total merchant shipping. 

5) Later, when Augustus founded the Roman Empire, the Romans referred to the Mediterranean as Mare Nostrum (“Our Sea”).
Mare Nostrum (Latin, "Our Sea") was a Roman name for the Mediterranean Sea. In Classical Latin it would have been pronounced , and in Ecclesiastical Latin it is pronounced.In the years following the unification of Italy in 1861, Italian nationalists who saw Italy as the successor state to the Roman Empire attempted to revive the term. 

6) The Mediterranean Sea has significant endemism and is biologically distinctive from the adjacent Atlantic Ocean. 
As a result of the drying of the sea during the Messinian Salinity Crisis, the marine biota of the Mediterranean are derived primarily from the Atlantic Ocean. The North Atlantic is considerably colder and more nutrient-rich than the Mediterranean, and the marine life of the Mediterranean has had to adapt to its differing conditions in the five million years since the basin was reflooded.Its rocky reefs, seagrass meadows, and upwelling areas are particularly important habitats that support enormous biodiversity

7)There are more than 3300 islands in the Mediterranean Sea. 
Two independent island nations exist within the Mediterranean Sea: Cyprus and Malta.

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