. A regional geography of the world, with diagrams and entirely new maps . straits, which givecommunication between the two Mediterranean basins,has always given the island of Sicily great strategicimportance. The positions of the ancient city of Car-thage, near Tunis, of the modern French naval station ofBizerta, and of the fortified British island of Malta, allemphasize the importance of these gateways. Only twolowland gateways break the mountain wall, and both ofthese are in the south of France, the Gap of Carcassonne,between the central plateau and the Pyrenees, and thenarrow Rhone valley,
. A regional geography of the world, with diagrams and entirely new maps . straits, which givecommunication between the two Mediterranean basins,has always given the island of Sicily great strategicimportance. The positions of the ancient city of Car-thage, near Tunis, of the modern French naval station ofBizerta, and of the fortified British island of Malta, allemphasize the importance of these gateways. Only twolowland gateways break the mountain wall, and both ofthese are in the south of France, the Gap of Carcassonne,between the central plateau and the Pyrenees, and thenarrow Rhone valley, between the central plateau andthe Alps. The Eastern Basin. The eastern is the larger of the two basins, and it liesfurther south. The mountain barrier is not continuousin the north, and in the south is practically most important gateway is that formed by the con-struction of the Suez Canal, which gives an eastern outlet THE MEDITERRANEAN LANDS 247 via the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean and the Far East. Another historic gate is reached by following the Persian. Gulf and the plains of Mesopotamia to Aleppo whichcommands it. The Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmora andthe Dardanelles form a gateway from the Black commands a fourth route which reaches the 248 EUROPE i^gean Sea via the Morava and Vardar valleys, whilstat the head of the long and narrow Adriatic are Venice,Trieste and Fiume, the termini of railway routes, allof which must cross mountain barriers before reachingthe sea. In addition to these the Straits of Sicily andMessina are sea gateways leading from the westernbasin. In modern times, the eastern basin is of less im-portance than the western basin, owing to the characterof lands which lie along its shores. Climate and Produci^. The lands bordering the Mediterranean have theMediterranean type of climate, except where the Saharareaches the sea along the southern margins of theeastern basin. The products are also Mediterranean in type. We have noted th
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectgeography, bookyear19
