The name of the region comes from the name of the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean is the world’s largest inland sea. It lies between the continents of Europe and Africa. The name of the sea is derived from the Latin medius “middle” and terra “earth,” or “land”, indicating that the sea was once believed by certain civilizations to be at the center of the world.

The Mediterranean is linked to the Atlantic Ocean by the Strait of Gibraltar (Cebelitarik), to the Black Sea by the straits of Dardanelles and Bosphorus and to the Red Sea by the Suez Canal.

The Taurus (white bull) Mountains stretch for about 485 km / 300 mi along the southern rim of the Anatolian Plateau, parallel to the Mediterranean Sea, from Egirdir Lake in the west to the Seyhan River in the east. Demirkazik (3,910 m / 12,829 ft), in the easternmost part, is the highest peak in the main range.