Aegean Sea, an arm of the Mediterranean situated between Greece and Asia Minor. It is bounded on the north by that portion of Turkey known to the ancients as Thrace and Macedonia. The Aegean receives the waters of the Black Sea through the Dardanelles. The coast is much broken by long promontories and by correspondingly long arms of the sea. Good harbors abound. The sea is studded with islands. The ancients who dwelt on the adjacent lands had a great variety of productions to offer in trade. The possibility of making short voyages from port to port, or from island to island, was favorable to early navigation, when the ship captain had no compass save the pole star. Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that the Aegean was the cradle of European commerce. The Aegean is also the sea of all seas prominent in early European art, literature, and history. It is not risking much to say that the earliest European navy sailed the Aegean. The Greeks called the sea the Archipelago or chief sea, and it was the chief sea of the world to them. The name has been extended to other seas, but with a changed meaning. The term is applied to seas, not on account of their importance, but because, like the original Archipelago, they contain a profusion of islands. The fisheries of the Aegean are considerable. The islands produce wheat, wine, olive oil, figs, raisins, honey, wax, cotton, and silk. The inhabitants are skillful divers for coral and sponges. Bands of expert divers from the Aegean frequent our coasts and engage in the sponge fisheries of Florida.