The Sea's the Limit Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ligurian Sea

Like many marginal seas (ones that form part of a larger body of water), the exact limits of the Ligurian Sea are not straightforward to define and differ between sources. The International Hydrographic Organisation suggests it as a roughly triangular area extending from the northernmost tip of Corsica to the French-Italian border to the west and the coastline of the Gulf of La Spezia to the east.

However, a broader definition includes the waters north of the island of Elba (famous for unsuccessfully incarcerating Napoleon Bonaparte) and the area around the entire northern coastline of Corsica. Under both definitions the Gulf of Genoa is included within the Ligurian Sea, so the city of Genoa - the capital of Italy's Liguria region - sits on its coastline.

Answer: Aegean Sea

The Aegean Sea is located between Greece and Turkey. The majority of the 450 or so islands in the Aegean Sea belong to Greece, although a large number of these are uninhabited. A handful (the inhabited ones being Bozcaada, Gökçeada, Cunda and Uzunada) form part of Turkey's territory. They are split into seven main areas: the Cyclades, Dodecanese, North Aegean Islands, Saronic Islands, Sporades, Crete and Euboea. The term 'archipelago' was derived from the Ancient Greek for 'chief' ('arkhi') and 'sea' ('pelagos') and originally used to refer specifically to the Aegean Sea and later the Aegean Islands, before becoming a generic term for a group of islands.

The northern coastline of Crete - the largest of the Greek islands - marks the southern limit of the Aegean Sea.

Answer: Balearic Sea

The Balearic Sea lies between the Spanish regions of Valencia and Catalonia and the Balearic Islands - the largest of which are Majorca (or Mallorca), Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The islands - like many of Spain's coastal areas - are popular holiday resorts with beautiful sandy beaches, with Ibiza in particular known for its nightclubs and party atmosphere. Water temperature in the Balearic Sea can reach around 25 degrees Celsius in the summer, so tourists get ideal conditions for swimming and water sports whether they have travelled to the islands or to the Costa Brava or Costa Dorada on the mainland.

Answer: Adriatic Sea

The Strait of Otranto is the narrow body of water separating Italy's Salento Peninsula (which is the "heel" part of southern Italy's "boot" shape) from the coast of Albania and shares its name with a nearby Italian city. The sea to the north of the strait is the Adriatic, which has been an important economic trade route for thousands of years.

It is home to various important and historic cities, including Brindisi, Dubrovnik, Trieste and - most famously - Venice, which is also known as the "Queen of the Adriatic".

A total of six countries have a coastline on the Adriatic, the other four being Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Slovenia.

Answer: Levantine Sea

The Levantine Sea takes its name from the Levant - a term originally used to refer to the historic region of Syria, which now encompasses the modern day countries of Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria; the State of Palestine; parts of the Sinai region of Egypt and the island nation of Cyprus.

The Suez Canal that cuts through Egypt and provides an important maritime route between Europe and Asia connects the Levantine Sea area of the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. The water that flows down through the canal from the Red Sea to the Levantine Sea is saltier than the wider Mediterranean area.

Therefore, since the canal's opening in 1869, the ecology of the Levantine Sea area has gradually changed to favour Red Sea species at the expense of the area's traditional sardine population (and associated fishing industry).

The movement of marine life through the Suez Canal is known as Lessepsian migration after Ferdinand de Lesseps, the canal's chief engineer.

Answer: Libyan Sea

It forms the part of the southern Mediterranean between the Levantine Sea to the east and the Strait of Sicily to the west. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the Libyan Sea lies off the coast of modern day Libya. However, it also extends to the waters north of Egypt - as far west as the city of Alexandria - as its name actually derives from Ancient Libya, which covered a much larger portion of northern Africa than the modern day version.

The land bordering this marginal sea was home to numerous ancient settlements and Alexandria itself was home to one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World - the lighthouse known as the Pharos of Alexandria.

Answer: Ionian Sea

The deepest point of the Mediterranean Sea is Calypso Deep, which is located in the Ionian Sea, off the south-west coast of the Peloponnese area of mainland Greece. It stretches down to a depth of 5,267 metres (17,280 feet) and forms part of the wider Hellenic Trench, an area between two regions of underwater volcanic and earthquake activity. Corfu, Ithaca and Kefalonia are three of the Ionian Islands, which along with Zakynthos, Lefkas, Paxos and Cythera, can be found off the western coast of the Greek mainland (and Albania in the case of Corfu).

Answer: Tyrrhenian Sea

The Tyrrhenian Sea takes its name from Prince Tyrrhenus, one of the mythical founders of the ancient Etruscan Civilisation that ruled over large parts of Italy prior to the development of the Roman Empire. It is defined by the western coast of Italy to the east, the Mediterranean's largest island, Sicily, to the south, and Sardinia and Corsica to the east.

The latter two islands are the second and fourth largest Mediterranean islands respectively - the third largest being Cyprus. Major ports on the Tyrrhenian Sea include Naples, Palermo and Civitavecchia (otherwise known as the "Port of Rome", even though it is some distance from Italy's capital).

Answer: Thracian Sea

Thrace is the ancient name for the region of Europe that once encompassed an area that is now part of the modern day countries of Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. The Thracian Sea forms the northernmost part of the Aegean Sea and contains several of the Mediterranean islands that form part of Turkey.

It stretches across from the Macedonia region of Greece in the west to Turkey's Gallipoli peninsula in the east, and includes the waters to the north of where the Dardanelles Strait connects the Mediterranean to the Black Sea via the Sea of Marmara and the Bosporus.

Answer: Alboran Sea

The Alboran Sea is the first part of the Mediterranean that you would reach after leaving the Atlantic Ocean and sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar - the narrowest point between mainland Europe and Africa at just 14 kilometres (9 miles) wide. The ecology of the Alboran Sea area differs somewhat from the remainder of the Mediterranean because a system of currents mean that it contains a significant amount of less-salty Atlantic water.

It is an important habitat for a range of sea creatures, including loggerhead sea turtles, porpoises and bottlenose dolphins.