Intro

Hello and Welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.

I’m Jans your Mnemonic Man and today's episode we take a trip to the Mediterranean and will be on the seven biggest islands.

The Mediterranean is a giant water body formed millions of years ago by a massive flood. It is surrounded by 24 countries two of which are island countries which are Malta and Cyperus. The islands are steeped in history and include ancient sites such as the Palace of Knossos in Crete, Valley of the Temples in Sicily, and Cyprus's ancient Paphos.

Along with its history these islands also possess stunning landscapes such as the Amalfi Coast’s Capri, Malta’s Blue Grotto, and Greece’s Santorini, which is an underwater volcano.

There are thousands of islands in the Mediterranean, some say up to 10,000. Most are uninhabited and Greece has the bulk share with around 6,000 islands. Well known island groups in the Mediterranean include the Balearic Islands which is part of Spain and includes Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, and Formentera, the Greek Islands as I mentioned with around 6,000 island and islets, the Turkish Islands which include Bozcaada and Gökçeada, and finally the French Islands which includes the fourth largest island of Corsica.

Today’s mnemonic will be on the seven largest islands of the Mediterranean in order of size.

So, with that being said, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mediterranean_Relief.jpg

Wikipedia Summary

The Mediterranean Sea (/ˌmɛdɪtəˈreɪniən/ MED-ih-tə-RAY-nee-ən) 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, 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 km2 (970,000 sq mi),[2] representing 0.7% of the global ocean surface, but its connection to 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 the deepest recorded point is 5,109 ± 1 m (16,762 ± 3 ft) in the Calypso Deep in the Ionian Sea. 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 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 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 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.[3]

Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_Sea]

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cyprus_Island_in_the_Mediterranean_Sea_(54054828759_d0e28b3a56_o).jpg

Mnemonic

Islands of the Mediterranean Sea Mnemonic – Top 7 in Order of Size – SSiCCCEM rex

(Commercial for Holeproof Antz Pantz in 1989 where an Echidna called Rex saves the day by eating the ants before they get to the pants after the lady gave the instruction to “Siccem Rex”. So, picture all the residents of the Islands of the Mediterranean Sea, having a pet echidna called Rex to manage the swarms of ants, by giving the instruction to “Siccem Rex.”)

1. Sicily

2. Sardinia

3. Cyprus

4. Corsica

5. Crete

6. Euboea

7. Majorca

Now, just recently I was actually on a cruise around the Mediterranean where we met a couple from one of the Mediterranean islands, listed above (which was actually number 4 on the mnemonic) and they asked me if I could guess, their ethnicity, to which I promptly replied, Corsican!

Five Fun Facts

1. Sicily as mentioned is the largest island with an area of 25,710 square kilometres or 9,927 square miles. It is surrounded by three seas the Tyrrhenian, Ionian, and Mediterranean and is home to almost half of Italy’s active volcanoes.

2. The Mediterranean has a coastline of approximately 46,027 kms or 28,600 miles. It is the largest enclosed sea in the world and has a coast on 24 countries and territories from Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

3. The highest point of any Mediterranean Island is Mount Etna on Sicily at 3,403 metres. However, if you were to rephrase the question and ask which country of the Mediterranean has the highest point, the answer would be Mount Teide on Tenerife which is part of Spain at 3,715 metres.

4. Around 5.9 million years ago the Mediterranean was cut off from the Atlantic Ocean. It remained this way until around 5.3 million years ago when a spectacular flood called the Zanclean flood breached the mountain range joining Europe and Africa with apparently the force of a thousand Amazon rivers according to scientists.

5. The Mediterranean has been a Mecca for ancient civilisations which have included the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, and the Middle Eastern cultures. It served as a superhighway for trade and cultural exchange whilst it was also the stage for many battles.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mediterranean_Sea_(MODIS_2020-08-20).jpg

Three Question Quiz

Q.1. What is the longest river ending in the Mediterranean Sea?

Q.2. The Mediterranean Sea is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by a narrow passage called what?

Q.3. The water in the Mediterranean is much darker than normal as it lacks many nutrients that lead to plant growth. Is that True or False

Bonus Q. What are the only two independent nations in the Mediterranean?

Mnemonic Recap