Mediterranean Sea million years ago (mya) in less than two years by the Zanclean flood. Water poured in from the Atlantic Ocean through a newly breached gateway now called the Strait of Gibraltar at an estimated rate of about three orders of magnitude (one thousand times) larger than the current flow of the Amazon River. The Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of and the deepest recorded point is in the Calypso Deep in the Ionian Sea. The coastline extends for . A shallow submarine ridge (the Strait of Sicily) between the island of Sicily and the coast of Tunisia divides the
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