mediterraans

Mediterraans is an adjective used to describe things related to the Mediterranean region, and, less commonly, a noun referring to people or cultures associated with that area. The term covers a geographic and cultural zone that touches Southern Europe, North Africa, and parts of the Levant along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

The Mediterranean basin spans countries such as Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Egypt, and Morocco. The region is known for a Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters, though local variations occur across coastal plains and highlands.

Mediterranean traditions are diverse but share certain culinary and architectural traits, including olive oil, legumes, vegetables, seafood, and arching forms in buildings. Historical exchanges in port cities shaped music, art, and social practices across coastal communities.

There is no single Mediterranean language or ethnicity. The term encompasses a mosaic of languages and cultures, including Romance languages, Semitic languages, Berber languages, Greek, Turkish, and others connected by long-standing intercultural contact.

The Mediterranean has been a corridor for trade, migration, and empire for millennia. In contemporary usage, Mediterraans appears in tourism, culinary writing, and academic discussions to denote the broader, plural Mediterranean world rather than a unified culture. See also Mediterranean climate, Mediterranean diet, Mediterranean Basin.