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67-590: Suluq is the site of a former Italian concentration camp for the nomadic tribes that lived in Eastern Libya (Cyrenaica) during the colonial Italian North Africa and Italian Libya period. On 16 September 1931 Omar Mukhtar , the leader of the Libyan resistance movement , was hanged here. Suluq was the southern inland terminus of a short narrow gauge railway built by the Italian Libya Railways . This line

134-514: A barbed wire fence was built from the Mediterranean to the oasis of Al-Jaghbub to sever lines critical to the resistance. Soon afterwards, the colonial administration began the wholesale deportation of the people from the mountains of Jebel Akhdar , to deny the rebels the support of the local population. Fascist Italy maintained several concentration camps in Cyrenaica (Eastern Libya) during

201-650: A fence along 300,000 miles of the Egyptian border was built in order to cut the supply of primary resources. Shortly after between 100,000 and 110,000 children, women, and elderly people and 600,000 animals were moved to the Sirte desert in concentration camps in Suluq , El Magrun , Abyar and El Agheila where 16 concentration camps had been built and tens of thousands died in squalid conditions. Fascist Italy maintained several concentration camps in Cyrenaica (Eastern Libya) during

268-509: A historic Friendship, Partnership and Cooperation treaty in Benghazi Under its terms, Italy will pay $ 5 billion to Libya as compensation for its former military occupation. In exchange, Libya will take measures to combat illegal immigration coming from its shores and boost investments in Italian companies. The treaty was ratified by Italy on 6 February 2009, and by Libya on 2 March, during

335-562: A visit to Tripoli by Berlusconi. The intent was therefore, to put an end to the disputes related to colonialism, but contemporarily, create an advantageous economic condition for Italy. Fascist Italy, aligned with Nazi Germany during World War II, operated a number of concentration camps and labor camps for Libyan natives. Among them are Giado , Buq Buq , and Sidi Azaz . Mediterranean Sea For other countries, click here . The Mediterranean Sea ( / ˌ m ɛ d ɪ t ə ˈ r eɪ n i ən / MED -ih-tə- RAY -nee-ən )

402-607: Is a calque of the Latin name, from μέσος ( mésos , "in the middle") and γήινος ( gḗinos , "of the earth"), from γῆ ( gê , "land, earth"). The original meaning may have been 'the sea in the middle of the earth', rather than 'the sea enclosed by land'. Ancient Iranians called it the "Roman Sea", and in Classical Persian texts , it was called Daryāy-e Rōm (دریای روم), which may be from Middle Persian form, Zrēh ī Hrōm (𐭦𐭫𐭩𐭤 𐭩 𐭤𐭫𐭥𐭬). The Carthaginians called it

469-742: Is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean , surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia , on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Europe , on the south by North Africa , and on the west almost by the Morocco–Spain border . The Mediterranean has played a central role in the history of Western civilization . Geological evidence indicates that around 5.9 million years ago,

536-570: Is known as al-Baḥr [al-Abyaḍ] al-Mutawassiṭ ( البحر [الأبيض] المتوسط ) 'the [White] Middle Sea'. In Islamic and older Arabic literature, it was Baḥr al-Rūm ( بحر الروم ) or al- Baḥr al-Rūmī ( بحر الرومي ) 'the Sea of the Romans' or 'the Roman Sea' or Baḥr al-šām ( بحر الشام ) or al-Baḥr al-šāmī ( البحر الشامي ) ("the Sea of Syria"). At first, that name referred only to the eastern Mediterranean, but

603-528: Is unclear, however, in 1910 the Libyan population was made up of around 1.5 million people while in 1943 it had significantly decreased to 800,000. Ilan Pappé estimates that between 1928 and 1932 the Italian military "killed half the Bedouin population (directly or through disease and starvation in camps)." Italian historian Emilio Gentile estimates 50,000 deaths resulting from the suppression of resistance. Since

670-509: The Black Sea . In Persian, the name was translated as Baḥr-i Safīd , which was also used in later Ottoman Turkish . Similarly, in 19th century Greek, the name was Άσπρη Θάλασσα ( áspri thálassa ; "white sea"). According to Johann Knobloch, in classical antiquity , cultures in the Levant used colours to refer to the cardinal points: black referred to the north (explaining the name Black Sea ), yellow or blue to east, red to south (e.g.,

737-645: The Italian Lakes (Po). While the Mediterranean watershed is bordered by other river basins in Europe, it is essentially bordered by endorheic basins or deserts elsewhere. The following countries are in the Mediterranean drainage basin while not having a coastline on the Mediterranean Sea: The following countries have a coastline on the Mediterranean Sea: Several other territories also border

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804-705: The Italian city-states like Amalfi and Genoa before the Crusades, according to the Cairo Geniza documents. A document dated 996 mentions Amalfian merchants living in Cairo . Another letter states that the Genoese had traded with Alexandria . The caliph al-Mustansir had allowed Amalfian merchants to reside in Jerusalem about 1060 in place of the Latin hospice . The Crusades led to

871-538: The Nazi party in Germany , when the truth is that the latter took inspiration from Italian concentration camps and methods of repression. However, the Libyan colonization can be considered genocide because the population was killed intentionally and the cultural, biological and economic basis of the community was completely destroyed and replaced. On 30 August 2008, Gaddafi and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi signed

938-743: The Punic Wars in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, the Roman Republic defeated the Carthaginians to become the preeminent power in the Mediterranean. When Augustus founded the Roman Empire , the Romans referred to the Mediterranean as Mare Nostrum ("Our Sea"). For the next 400 years, the Roman Empire completely controlled the Mediterranean Sea and virtually all its coastal regions from Gibraltar to

1005-616: The Red Sea ) and white to west. That would explain the Bulgarian Byalo More , the Turkish Akdeniz , and the Arab nomenclature described above, lit. "White Sea". Major ancient civilizations were located around the Mediterranean. The sea provided routes for trade, colonization, and war, as well as food (from fishing and the gathering of other seafood) for numerous communities throughout

1072-550: The Roman Empire , Mare Nostrum ("Our Sea"). The term Mare Mediterrāneum appears later: Solinus apparently used this in the 3rd century, but the earliest extant witness to it is in the 6th century, in Isidore of Seville . It means 'in the middle of land, inland' in Latin , a compound of medius ("middle"), terra ("land, earth"), and -āneus ("having the nature of"). The modern Greek name Μεσόγειος Θάλασσα ( mesógeios ; "inland")

1139-664: The Sahra trade. However, the most determinant argument to conquer Libya was the southern question that took place in Italy during the 1890s. The landless and sharecropping peasants in the south were putting pressure on the Italian ruling elites claiming land and voting rights. Following a series of riots and rebellions in the south, the ruling classes attempted to find a solution to this problem by relocating Italian peasants in colonies. Giolitti assumed that since Libyans had resented Ottoman rule from 1551 until 1911, Italians would be welcomed by

1206-517: The "Syrian Sea". In ancient Syrian texts, Phoenician epics and in the Hebrew Bible , it was primarily known as the "Great Sea", הים הגדול HaYam HaGadol , ( Numbers ; Book of Joshua ; Ezekiel ) or simply as "The Sea" ( 1 Kings ). However, it has also been called the "Hinder Sea" because of its location on the west coast of the region of Syria or the Holy Land (and therefore behind a person facing

1273-565: The 16th century and also maintained naval bases in southern France (1543–1544), Algeria and Tunisia. Barbarossa , the Ottoman captain is a symbol of this domination with the victory of the Battle of Preveza (1538). The Battle of Djerba (1560) marked the apex of Ottoman naval domination in the eastern Mediterranean. As the naval prowess of the European powers increased, they confronted Ottoman expansion in

1340-515: The 7th century, and with it the religion of Islam , which soon swept across from the east; at its greatest extent, the Arabs, under the Umayyads , controlled most of the Mediterranean region and left a lasting footprint on its eastern and southern shores. A variety of foodstuffs, spices and crops were introduced to the western Mediterranean's Spain and Sicily during Arab rule, via the commercial networks of

1407-802: The Atlantic via the Strait of Gibraltar —the narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates the Iberian Peninsula in Europe from Morocco in Africa —is only 14 km (9 mi) wide. The Mediterranean Sea encompasses a vast number of islands , some of them of volcanic origin. The two largest islands, in both area and population, are Sicily and Sardinia . The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 1,500 m (4,900 ft) and

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1474-641: The Islamic world. These include sugarcane, rice, cotton, alfalfa, oranges, lemons, apricots, spinach, eggplants, carrots, saffron and bananas. The Arabs also continued extensive cultivation and production of olive oil (the Spanish words for 'oil' and 'olive'— aceite and aceituna , respectively—are derived from the Arabic al-zait , meaning 'olive juice'), and pomegranates (the heraldic symbol of Granada) from classical Greco-Roman times. The Arab invasions disrupted

1541-581: The Levant, being the only state in history to ever do so, being given the nickname "Roman Lake". The Western Roman Empire collapsed around 476 AD. The east was again dominant as Roman power lived on in the Byzantine Empire formed in the 4th century from the eastern half of the Roman Empire . Though the Eastern Roman Empire would continue to hold almost all of the Mediterranean, another power arose in

1608-811: The Mediterranean Sea is the Nile , which takes its sources in equatorial Africa. The basin of the Nile constitutes about two-thirds of the Mediterranean drainage basin and encompasses areas as high as the Ruwenzori Mountains . Among other important rivers in Africa, are the Moulouya and the Chelif , both on the north side of the Atlas Mountains . In Asia, are the Ceyhan and Seyhan , both on

1675-598: The Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea without ship lock, because the water level is essentially the same. The westernmost point of the Mediterranean is located at the transition from the Alborán Sea to the Strait of Gibraltar, the easternmost point is on the coast of the Gulf of Iskenderun in southeastern Turkey. The northernmost point of the Mediterranean is on the coast of the Gulf of Trieste near Monfalcone in northern Italy while

1742-514: The Mediterranean towards East Africa and Asia. This led to a preference for the Mediterranean countries and their ports like Trieste with direct connections to Central and Eastern Europe experienced a rapid economic rise. In the 20th century, the 1st and 2nd World Wars as well as the Suez Crisis and the Cold War led to a shift of trade routes to the European northern ports, which changed again towards

1809-506: The Mediterranean was cut off from the Atlantic and was partly or completely desiccated over a period of some 600,000 years during the Messinian salinity crisis before being refilled by the Zanclean flood about 5.3 million years ago. The Mediterranean Sea covers an area of about 2,500,000 km (970,000 sq mi), representing 0.7% of the global ocean surface, but its connection to

1876-670: The ages. The earliest advanced civilizations in the Mediterranean were the Egyptians and the Minoans , who traded extensively with each other. Other notable civilizations that appeared somewhat later are the Hittites and other Anatolian peoples , the Phoenicians , and Mycenean Greece . Around 1200 BC the eastern Mediterranean was greatly affected by the Bronze Age Collapse , which resulted in

1943-515: The area as generic Mediterranean Sea, in the Western Basin. It does not recognize the label Sea of Sardinia . Note 2: Thracian Sea and Myrtoan Sea are seas that are part of the Aegean Sea . Note 3: The Black Sea is not considered part of it. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Mediterranean Sea as follows: Stretching from the Strait of Gibraltar in

2010-505: The colonization expenditure and the scale of the occupation escalated. He referred to Libya as the " Fourth Shore " because it represented the fourth side of the national quadrilateral completed by the three coasts of the Adriatic where there are Trieste , Bari and Durazzo . Deadly instruments of war were used because it was clear that in order to empty the land, the native population had to be defeated. The motive behind this colonization

2077-632: The deepest recorded point is 5,109 ± 1 m (16,762 ± 3 ft) in the Calypso Deep in the Ionian Sea . It lies between latitudes 30° and 46° N and longitudes 6° W and 36° E . Its west–east length, from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Gulf of Alexandretta , on the southeastern coast of Turkey , is about 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi). The north–south length varies greatly between different shorelines and whether only straight routes are considered. Also including longitudinal changes,

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2144-559: The destruction of many cities and trade routes. The most notable Mediterranean civilizations in classical antiquity were the Greek city states and the Phoenicians , both of which extensively colonized the coastlines of the Mediterranean. Darius I of Persia , who conquered Ancient Egypt, built a canal linking the Red Sea to the Nile, and thus the Mediterranean. Darius's canal was wide enough for two triremes to pass each other with oars extended and required four days to traverse. Following

2211-578: The east), which is sometimes translated as "Western Sea". Another name was the "Sea of the Philistines ", ( Book of Exodus ), from the people inhabiting a large portion of its shores near the Israelites . In Modern Hebrew , it is called הים התיכון HaYam HaTikhon 'the Middle Sea'. In Classic Persian texts was called Daryāy-e Šām (دریای شام) "The Western Sea" or "Syrian Sea". In Modern Standard Arabic , it

2278-545: The entire Mediterranean. Once, most of the trade between Western Europe and the East was passing through the region , but after the 1490s the development of a sea route to the Indian Ocean allowed the importation of Asian spices and other goods through the Atlantic ports of western Europe. The sea remained strategically important. British mastery of Gibraltar ensured their influence in Africa and Southwest Asia. Especially after

2345-506: The family had to be experienced in the field of agriculture. The settlers desired to migrate as Italy was becoming over-crowded and there was a strong urge to “own land”. These farms were ready in seven months; the colonists walked into efficiently constructed white farmhouses with irrigating aqueducts, asphalt roads and private lands that averaged thirty-seven acres. Families were also allowed to visit their village centres, which included churches, cinemas, sports and co-operatives. Italy

2412-451: The first phase of colonization, Italian media reported a distorted narrative of the conflict. The Italians were depicted as liberators from Ottoman rule, and the repression campaigns, such as the ones following the battle of Sciara Sciat , were hidden from the population. On the other side, the Arabs were described as 'beasts' that needed to be civilized by the Europeans. For this reason, it

2479-399: The flourishing of trade between Europe and the outremer region. Genoa, Venice and Pisa created colonies in regions controlled by the Crusaders and came to control the trade with the Orient. These colonies also allowed them to trade with the Eastern world. Though the fall of the Crusader states and attempts at banning of trade relations with Muslim states by the Popes temporarily disrupted

2546-436: The immediate coastline on all sides of the Mediterranean tends to have strong maritime moderation. The sea was an important route for merchants and travellers of ancient times, facilitating trade and cultural exchange between the peoples of the region. The history of the Mediterranean region is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies. The Roman Empire maintained nautical hegemony over

2613-476: The later phase of its occupation of that country. After the initial invasion in 1911, the Italian control over much of the country remained ineffective. This destructive period went on from 1929 until 1934. The local population died of starvation, untreated diseases and overall deprivation of support and aid. In addition to starvation and disease, people in the camps were traumatized by the continuous public executions of prisoners and by “ marad ”. This word describes

2680-407: The later phase of its occupation of that country. In order to win against the resistance in Libya, the Italian troops were ordered to isolate the native troops. Furthermore, Italy felt that they had the right to colonize the whole Mediterranean because they are the successors of the Roman empire. Mussolini desired to transplant a new Roman and Fascist civilization within the African land. Firstly

2747-446: The leadership of Omar Mukhtar , where Italian forces under the Generals Pietro Badoglio and Rodolfo Graziani waged punitive pacification campaigns which turned into brutal and bloody acts of repression . However, with the arrival of Mussolini , the generals were given the command to stop compromising with the resistance and to defeat it with violence at whatever cost in order to free the land for settlement. The Frontier Wire ,

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2814-415: The local population of Libya. The conquest of Libya took place in two phases; the first was considered a more superficial and approximate stage, it began on the 4th of October 1911 under Giovanni Giolitti ’s command. The expansionism would have ensured raw materials and a new land to migrate for Italians. Additionally, Italy would have benefited economically from the conquest because it could gain control of

2881-553: The local population, however, this was not the case. Libyans for a long time placed a strong resistance against the occupation and fought anti-colonial resistance with an army of volunteers from 1911 to 1915, then they managed to defeat the Italian army that in 1916 made a truce. The second phase started with the arrival of Benito Mussolini , an Italian politician, leader and founder of the National Fascist Party . He rose to power as Prime Minister of Italy from March 1922 until his deposition in 1943. With his arrival, he took control over

2948-588: The major ranges bordering Southern Europe. Total annual precipitation is significantly higher on the European part of the Mediterranean basin, especially near the Alps (the 'water tower of Europe') and other high mountain ranges. As a consequence, the river discharges of the Rhône and Po are similar to that of the Nile, despite the latter having a much larger basin. These are the only three rivers with an average discharge of over 1,000 m /s (35,000 cu ft/s). Among large natural fresh bodies of water are Lake Victoria (Nile basin), Lake Geneva (Rhône), and

3015-414: The migrants and arrest the traffickers of immigrants. In 2015, more than one million migrants crossed the Mediterranean Sea into Europe. Italy was particularly affected by the European migrant crisis . Since 2013, over 700,000 migrants have landed in Italy, mainly sub-Saharan Africans. The Mediterranean Sea connects: The 163 km (101 mi) long artificial Suez Canal in the southeast connects

3082-435: The naval battles of Abukir (1799, Battle of the Nile ) and Trafalgar (1805), the British had for a long time strengthened their dominance in the Mediterranean. Wars included Naval warfare in the Mediterranean during World War I and Mediterranean theatre of World War II . With the opening of the lockless Suez Canal in 1869, the flow of trade between Europe and Asia changed fundamentally. The fastest route now led through

3149-428: The number of drowned refugees in the region as a direct result of the policies. An Azerbaijani official described the sea as "a burial ground ... where people die". Following the 2013 Lampedusa migrant shipwreck , the Italian government decided to strengthen the national system for the patrolling of the Mediterranean Sea by authorising " Operation Mare Nostrum ", a military and humanitarian mission in order to rescue

3216-412: The physical and psychological trauma caused by the separation of the herds from the seminomad population. In their culture, animal/human unity was essential and seeing that their herds were being left to die of hunger was unbearable. Almost 168,000 animals were captured and killed. The Libyan population used the word “ shar ” to describe the horror of the genocide in the death camps. This word comes from

3283-474: The region when the Battle of Lepanto (1571) checked the power of the Ottoman Navy . This was the last naval battle to be fought primarily between galleys . The Barbary pirates of Northwest Africa preyed on Christian shipping and coastlines in the Western Mediterranean Sea. According to Robert Davis, from the 16th to 19th centuries, pirates captured 1 million to 1.25 million Europeans as slaves. The development of oceanic shipping began to affect

3350-453: The religious book of the Qur’an and it means evil, the opposite of good. The survivors released in 1934 were less than 40,000. They were free but stayed under surveillance for 2 years as they could not go back to their houses because they were occupied by Italians. By the end it was estimated that a total number of 60,000 to 70,000 people died. The total number of Libyans who died either through combat or mainly due to starvation and disease

3417-444: The resistance of the Ottoman army and in particular of the Libyan population. In fact, even if the government of the country was apparently weak, the society was used to self administrate itself based on religious or sectarian organizations. Once arrived in Libya, the fascists faced a poor yet organized and stubborn resistance that they had to fight for 20 years. The face of the armed Arab opposition mainly happened in Cyrenaica under

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3484-468: The sea for centuries and is the only state to have ever controlled all of its coast. The countries surrounding the Mediterranean and its marginal seas in clockwise order are Spain , France , Monaco , Italy , Slovenia , Croatia , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Montenegro , Albania , Greece , Turkey , Syria , Lebanon , Israel , Palestine ( Gaza Strip ), Egypt , Libya , Tunisia , Algeria , and Morocco ; Cyprus and Malta are island countries in

3551-458: The sea. In addition, Northern Cyprus ( de facto state ) and two overseas territories of the United Kingdom ( Akrotiri and Dhekelia , and Gibraltar ) also have coastlines along the Mediterranean Sea. The drainage basin encompasses a large number of other countries, the Nile being the longest river ending in the Mediterranean Sea. The Ancient Egyptians called the Mediterranean Wadj-wr/Wadj-Wer/Wadj-Ur. This term (literally "great green")

3618-423: The shortest shipping route between the multinational Gulf of Trieste and the Libyan coastline of the Gulf of Sidra is about 1,900 kilometres (1,200 mi). The water temperatures are mild in winter and warm in summer and give name to the Mediterranean climate type due to the majority of precipitation falling in the cooler months. Its southern and eastern coastlines are lined with hot deserts not far inland, but

3685-400: The south side of the Taurus Mountains . In Europe, the largest basins are those of the Rhône , Ebro , Po , and Maritsa . The basin of the Rhône is the largest and extends up as far north as the Jura Mountains , encompassing areas even on the north side of the Alps . The basins of the Ebro, Po, and Maritsa, are respectively south of the Pyrenees , Alps, and Balkan Mountains , which are

3752-421: The southern ports through European integration, the activation of the Silk Road and free world trade. In 2013, the Maltese president described the Mediterranean Sea as a "cemetery" due to the large number of migrants who drowned there after their boats capsized. European Parliament president Martin Schulz said in 2014 that Europe's migration policy "turned the Mediterranean into a graveyard", referring to

3819-599: The southernmost point is on the coast of the Gulf of Sidra near the Libyan town of El Agheila . Large islands in the Mediterranean include: The Alpine arc , which also has a great meteorological impact on the Mediterranean area, touches the Mediterranean in the west in the area around Nice . The typical Mediterranean climate has hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. Crops of the region include olives , grapes , oranges , tangerines , carobs and cork . The Mediterranean Sea includes 15 marginal seas : Note 1: The International Hydrographic Organization defines

3886-440: The term was later extended to the whole Mediterranean, it was also called Baḥr al-Maghrib ( بحر المغرب ) ("the Sea of the West"). A name that was used mainly for the western basin. In Turkish , it is the Akdeniz 'the White Sea'; in Ottoman, ﺁق دڭيز , which sometimes means only the Aegean Sea . The origin of the name is not clear, as it is not known in earlier Greek, Byzantine or Islamic sources. It may be to contrast with

3953-508: The trade in western Europe and brought it to a halt. However, the Norsemen developed the trade from Norway to the White Sea , while also trading in luxury goods from Spain and the Mediterranean. The Byzantines in the mid-8th century retook control of the area around the north-eastern part of the Mediterranean. Venetian ships from the 9th century armed themselves to counter the harassment by Arabs while concentrating trade of Asian goods in Venice. The Fatimids maintained trade relations with

4020-487: The trade relations between Western and Eastern Europe while disrupting trade routes with Eastern Asian Empires. This, however, had the indirect effect of promoting trade across the Caspian Sea . The export of grains from Egypt was re-routed towards the Eastern world . Products from East Asian empires, like silk and spices, were carried from Egypt under the Arab rule to ports like Venice and Constantinople by sailors and Jewish merchants. The Viking raids further disrupted

4087-412: The trade with the Orient, it however continued. Europe started to revive, however, as more organized and centralized states began to form in the later Middle Ages after the Renaissance of the 12th century . Ottoman power based in Anatolia continued to grow, and in 1453 extinguished the Byzantine Empire with the Conquest of Constantinople . Ottomans gained control of much of the eastern part sea in

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4154-540: The west to the entrances to the Dardanelles and the Suez Canal in the east, the Mediterranean Sea is bounded by the coasts of Europe, Africa, and Asia and is divided into two deep basins: The drainage basin of the Mediterranean Sea is particularly heterogeneous and extends much further than the Mediterranean region. Its size has been estimated between 4,000,000 and 5,500,000 km (1,500,000 and 2,100,000 sq mi), depending on whether non-active parts (deserts) are included or not. The longest river ending in

4221-441: Was closed around the 1960s. Suluq is on the crossroad of many roads connecting her with several inhabited places like: In 2009, 5,000 new housing units were built in Suluq. Italian concentration camps in Libya During the Italian colonization of Libya , the Kingdom of Italy operated several concentration camps . During World War II , Fascist Italy operated several concentration camps and forced labor camps for

4288-420: Was difficult to convince the Italian population of the genocidal nature of the National Fascist colonization campaign in Libya. This part of colonial history is almost an erased memory. Internationally, the Italian people are recognised as people of culture, arts, and beauty, and hence they are thought to be incapable of committing such crimes. Italian Fascism is still today considered moderate in comparison to

4355-404: Was enthusiastic about this project because the country wished to achieve self-sufficiency in the production of corn and oil and furthermore because they had estimated that by 1943 the national population living in Libya would reach 100,000 of which an approximate 40,000 men representing a strong military reserve in a strategic corner of the Mediterranean . However, the Italians had underestimated

4422-514: Was that fascists dreamed of settling 500,000 to 1 million Italians in the “fourth shore”. The state financed and officially organized a mass migration of peasant-farming families on the African coast of the Mediterranean. Amongst the 6,000 families who were admitted “to plead” only 1,800 of them were selected. The requirements were clear, working units - which did not include friends or relations but only close family members - had to be composed of at least 10 members, all healthy and loyal. Additionally,

4489-609: Was the name given by the Ancient Egyptians to the semi-solid, semi-aquatic region characterized by papyrus forests to the north of the cultivated Nile delta, and, by extension, the sea beyond. The Ancient Greeks called the Mediterranean simply ἡ θάλασσα ( hē thálassa ; "the Sea") or sometimes ἡ μεγάλη θάλασσα ( hē megálē thálassa ; "the Great Sea"), ἡ ἡμετέρα θάλασσα ( hē hēmetérā thálassa ; "Our Sea"), or ἡ θάλασσα ἡ καθ’ ἡμᾶς ( hē thálassa hē kath’hēmâs ; "the sea around us"). The Romans called it Mare Magnum ("Great Sea") or Mare Internum ("Internal Sea") and, starting with

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