preface

Chapter 1 Christian Nations
| Spain |
01 A country that lives off the past / 02 The United States and Spain in the 16th century / 03 Franco's dictatorship in Western Europe / 04 Gibraltar, the rich need refugees / 05 The Canary Islands, Hawaii of the Atlantic / 06 Bullfighting, are humans truly the lords of all creation? / 07 The Basque Country, an autonomous region like an independent nation / 08 Madrid, the geographic center of Spain and the center of its history / 09 Andalusia, an Islamic palace in a Christian nation / 10 Catalonia, a region that should be independent / 11 The Balearic Islands / 12 Andorra
| Portugal |
01 Portugal, the country that set the world standard to the West / 02 Da Gama and Diaz, pepper that changed world history / 03 Portugal's colonies, the first empire on which the sun never set / 04 Lisbon, a city that lives off the past / 05 Portugal's choice, the treaty that divided half the world
| France |
01 A country with a larger sea area / 02 Marseille, Busan, Korea / 03 French regional cuisine / 04 Toulouse, a city synonymous with tolerance / 05 Côte d'Azur, home to the world's largest number of villas for the wealthy / 06 Corsica, the island where Napoleon was exiled / 07 Impressionist backgrounds, paintings at the level of wallpaper / 08 Paris Salon, a salon where the Enlightenment flourished
| Italy |
01 Mussolini, the greatest Italian leader in history / 02 Jews in Venice, Jewish settlements are garbage dumps / 03 Lombardy Plains, are the Eastern and Western dragons the same dragon? / 04 Venice.
Location is variable, position is constant / 05 Rome, a city good for defending against foreign enemies and collecting taxes / 06 Turin, a miracle of Italy / 07 La Scala Theatre, a theater where you have to reserve tickets a year in advance / 08 Milan Project, what is the value of design? / 09 Florence's Medici, the family that changed European civilization / 10 The Roman Empire's transportation routes, all roads lead to Rome / 11 Vatican City, a country with a population of 825 / 12 Naples, Mount Vesuvius / 13 Sicily, the home of the mafia / 14 Amalfi Coast, do you need a villa in Amalfi to be a celebrity? / 15 Sardinia, have you tried risotto? / 16 Roman Catholicism, what does excommunication mean? / 17 Romanticism, risking one's life for something that doesn't pay / 18 Baroque era, 'God!' A Building That Makes Sound by Itself / 19 Dante's Divine Comedy, The Man Who Went to Heaven Through the Power of Love
Chapter 2 The Balkans and Anatolia
| Yugoslavia |
01 The Balkan Peninsula, Yugoslavia / 02 Slovenia: What happens to my house if my neighbor's house catches fire? / 03 Croatia, Korea's Hallyeo Waterway / 04 Bosnia, the bridge over the Drina River / 05 Serbia and Kosovo: A friend is dead! / 06 The miracle of Medjugorje, a miracle that isn't a miracle / 07 Macedonia: War and Patriots / 08 Albania: A country with potential
| Greece |
01 Korea's land, Greece's sea / 02 Hercules, the footprints he left on world cultural history are myths / 03 Aphrodite, beauty is innocent / 04 Civilization inside Pandora's box / 05 Sisyphus' rock, the reason why people don't commit suicide / 06 Narcissus, self-love that ruined their family / 07 Crete, the sea civilization that blossomed on the island / 08 Athens' democracy, small-unit community decision-making / 09 Athens Olympics, for whom?
| Turkiye |
01 The Rise of the Ottoman Empire, Islam is a Cousin of Christianity / 02 The Fall of the Empire, There is No Eternal Empire / 03 The Turkish Military, a Country That Legalized Coups / 04 Ankara, the Capital of Turkey / 05 Conflicts in Turkey, Conflicts Between Secularism and Islamism / 06 Turkish Kebab, Mackerel Kebab? / 07 The Kurds, Nomads with No Concept of Territory / 08 Turkey and the Korean War, Savors of Life / 09 Cyprus

Chapter 3 The Levant
| Iraq |
01 After the Iraq War, Invasion for Democracy and Economic Development? / 02 Who is ISIS? They commit terrorism when they feel wronged. / 03 Baghdad, a beauty's twilight? / 04 Iraq's oil: Is the Iraq War because of oil? / 05 Mesopotamia, the lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers / 06 Shatt al-Arab Waterway, the confluence of the Han and Imjin Rivers / 07 Basra, the mouth of Iraq? / 08 Security in Iraq, the aftermath of war / 09 Kurdistan Autonomous Region: Is a Kurdish President of Iraq? / 10 Baghdad.
The Best and Worst Cities to Live in / 11 Mosul and ISIS: Are Corruption Always Poisonous? / 12 Relations with Korea / 13 Visiting the Zaytun Unit in Erbil
| Syria |
01 Damascus, the world's most famous sword, the Sword of Damascus / 02 Syrian Civil War, a war that has degenerated into a proxy war / 03 Levant Aleppo Soap, Bucket List No. 1 / 04 Homs, the impregnable castle of Krak Chevalier
| Jordan |
01 Amman, Jordan: A Dirty Peace is Better Than a Good War / 02 Jordan River, a River Flowing with Honey and Milk
03 Jordan Tourism, Petra, famous for the Last Supper
| Israel |
01 Israel, the Jewish people, a superior people? / 02 Jews, a stone that rolls in like a stone that lingers? / 03 Israel's education, 0.2% of the population, 20% of the Nobel Prize winners / 04 Israel's founding, starting with military life / 05 Ghetto, now synonymous with slums / 06 Jerusalem, a holy place for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam / 07 Palestine, a place name and ethnic name / 08 Tel Aviv, Israel's de facto capital / 09 Gaza Strip, a prison without bars / 10 Kibbutz, the first communist society / 11 Golan Heights, Syrian land occupied by Israel / 12 National defense and childbirth, exemption from military service upon childbirth
| Lebanon |
01 Lebanon, the place with the best natural environment / 02 Beirut, a city that thrives on its colonial heritage
Chapter 4 The Maghreb Region
| Egypt |
01 Egypt's COVID-19, democracy slipping away / 02 The Nile, the river where 90% of Egypt's population hangs themselves / 03 Nasser, the president Park Chung-hee most admired / 04 Suez Canal, customs fees for a single ship are 300 million won? / 05 Sahara solar power, a treasure trove of large-scale solar power generation / 06 Siwa Oasis, a holy place for homosexuals? / 07 Alexandria, the Alexandria Library rebuilt at a cost of 220 million dollars / 08 Aswan Dam, poverty remains despite the dam's construction / 09 Sinai Peninsula, terror attacks on Korean tourists / 10 The romantic desert, war can be fought without guns, but war without a map is sure to be lost / 11 Cairo.
The living go to the east, the dead to the west / 12 The Cairo Conference, the conference that decided the fate of the Korean Peninsula / 13 The Red Sea, the sea that parted when Moses struck with his staff / 14 The mystery of the pyramids, the resurrection of the mummies inside the pyramids? / 15 Luxor, a man-made miracle
| Libya |
01 Gaddafi: Madman or Hero? / 02 Libya's Great Waterway Project / 03 The Great Waterway Project Episode: A Division That Buried Love
| Tunisia |
01 Tunisia, the Jewel of the Sahara Desert / 02 Arab Spring, Jeon Tae-il of Tunisia
| Morocco |
01 Morocco, a geopolitical hub / 02 Ceuta, the Enclave of Morocco, a passage for illegal immigrants / 03 Ibn Battuta, a traveler one step ahead of Marco Polo / 04 Casablanca, the power of fiction stronger than truth / 05 Morocco's nature, nature that determines the fate of the country
| Algeria |
01 Algerian Independence: Why Did Life Get Worse After Independence? / 02 Western Sahara: A Nation That Isn't a Nation

Conclusion
Search

The 25 Mediterranean countries covered in this book are 11 countries in the north of the Mediterranean Sea: Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, and Turkey; 4 countries in the east: Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Palestine; 5 countries in Africa: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt; and 3 island nations: Malta, Cyprus, and Northern Cyprus, for a total of 23 countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. In addition, there are Portugal and Iraq in Mesopotamia, which face the Atlantic Ocean but share the same culture, climate, and history.

There is no other place on Earth where so many peoples and nations are connected by a single small sea.
"25 Mediterranean Countries: Seen Again When You Know Geography," a book that meticulously weaves geography and history into concise sentences, provides a comfortable glimpse into how the small Mediterranean Sea, once so influential, has become so globally influential.
Through this book, you will be able to take the most intellectual walk through the Mediterranean, encountering interesting episodes from the beginning of Mediterranean civilization to the present day from the surrounding countries that live around the Mediterranean.