Levantine Sea to be the oldest known ocean crust worldwide. The Suez Canal was completed in 1869, linking the Levantine Sea to the Red Sea. The Red Sea's level is higher than the Eastern Mediterranean, so the canal serves as a tidal strait that pours Red Sea water into the Mediterranean. The Bitter Lakes, which are hypersaline natural lakes that form part of the canal, blocked the migration of Red Sea species into the Mediterranean for many decades, but as the salinity of the lakes gradually equalized with that of the Red Sea, the barrier to migration was removed, and plants and
Mediterranean Sea of kilometres away from its source. The temperature of the water in the deepest part of the Mediterranean Sea is . The following countries have a coastline on the Mediterranean Sea: Several other territories also border the Mediterranean Sea (from west to east): The British overseas territory of Gibraltar, the Spanish autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla and nearby islands, the Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus, and the Palestinian Gaza Strip. Major cities (municipalities) with populations larger than 200,000 people bordering the Mediterranean Sea are: The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) divides the Mediterranean into a number of smaller waterbodies, each