Talk:List of Mediterranean countries

Definition of Mediterranean
Generally on a "Dictionary" we will find: Medi·ter·ra·nean (med′ə tə rā′nē ən) Does anyone really think that a citizen of San Marino or the Vatican City is less "Mediterranean" than someone from Slovenia or Paris??--Sal73x (talk) 20:27, 20 July 2011 (UTC)
 * far from the coast; inland: said of land
 * surrounded, or almost surrounded, by land; landlocked: said of water
 * of the Mediterranean Sea or nearby regions
 * designating or of a physical type of the Caucasoid peoples exemplified by the long-headed, short, olive-skinned people living around the Mediterranean Sea.

Why is Portugal considered Mediterranean, if it doesn't even have a coast with the Mediterranean Sea?

Probably some racist pseudo-categorization going on — Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.160.77.20 (talk) 16:48, 30 September 2011 (UTC)


 * As the lede says, "Mediterranean countries" refers to those countries which border the Mediterranean Sea. Portugal is not one of them, and neither are Vatican, Andorra or San Marino. InflatableSupertrooper (talk) 18:08, 9 September 2016 (UTC)


 * More is taken into consideration, not only how close they are to the sea.


 * Portugal, San Marino, Vatican, Serbia, Kosovo and North Macedonia make part of the region historically, culturally (music, art, architecture), gastronomically, militarily-strategically and economically. Think even of the flora and climate. Finally, geographically: if the peninsulas are in Mediterranean sea, then all the countries on them are in the region as well. If Italian peninsula is surrounded by Mediterranean Sea, then San Marino cannot be on Jupiter. — Boleynn (talk) 02:58, 15 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Narrowed the scope to coastal countries, as Mediterranean is otherwise clearly ambiguous (MOS:WEASEL?). Other countries can be found in the lists linked below the main list. Zach (Talk) 16:40, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
 * Merged the lists into a sortable table. Zach (Talk) 18:01, 30 May 2024 (UTC)


 * Can somebody explain me what is wrong with this. I tried to make an exhaustive list with clear inclusion criteria, but I was reverted several times. And the current list completely ignores countries in the Mediterranean drainage basin, like Andorra, despite them being well... sourced! (no pun intended!). Zach (Talk) 16:23, 3 June 2024 (UTC)
 * I totally get where you're coming from, IMO Andorra should absolutely be included. But the problem with your edits are that you included countries like Switzerland and Burundi in your lists, because of their drainage basins; this article cannot be strictly geographically-based, as the geography does not align properly to the socio-cultural region. In no world should someone looking for a list of Mediterannean countries find Burundi or Switzerland. The list is of Mediterranean countries - not countries in the Mediterranean drainage basin or countries with Mediterranean coastlines or countries with Mediterranean climates, or whatever. As hard and inexact as it may be to define Mediterranean, we cannot simply lean on some obscure hydrological definition that does readers more of a disservice than an aid to understanding the region. Cristiano Tomás (talk) 18:22, 3 June 2024 (UTC)
 * If this list is not about geography (in this case both continent, catchment and biogeographical basins should be obvious geography topics, and by no means "obscure topics"), then I think it should be moved to another more explicit title, and not just "Mediterranean country" (again this is more like a weasel word: so totally meaningless). What will be the criterion of inclusion anyway? It cannot be the personal preferences of wiki editors. Zach (Talk) 18:42, 3 June 2024 (UTC)
 * There is definitely consensus for using a geographical definitions of the Mediterranean Basin and the Mediterranean Sea, there is no disagreement there. However, using a Mediterranean drainage basin is absolutely an obscure and nonconventional way of listing countries here. And frankly you haven't sources to back up any of your added content. The current list is not perfect (excluding countries like Andorra), but it is far less imperfect than your proposal (which included countries like Congo, Kenya, Burundi, and more). Cristiano Tomás (talk) 19:42, 3 June 2024 (UTC)
 * There are plenty of sources: (already provided),, ... They don't match the countries listed in this page. Because, guess what? there is no single definition for "Mediterranean", it's just a word with several meanings. Zach (Talk) 22:11, 3 June 2024 (UTC)
 * If you think the term "Mediterranean" applies to half of the countries you added, I don't know how to explain how ridiculous that is. What I will say is that the current definition is stable (based on the Mediterranean Basin and Mediterranean Sea) and there certainly isn't consensus between us on the inclusion of this obscure hydrological, drainage basin-based definition. Cristiano Tomás (talk) 14:10, 4 June 2024 (UTC)

Politicizing Geographical Information
Must we engage in politically motivated tit for tat when editing? People use Wikipedia to learn factual information, educational waters shouldn’t be muddied with personal feelings or politics. The world is a big, beautiful place and we each only live in a tiny speck of it. We come here to see, learn about, and experience new and intriguing places. Evening Up the Odds (talk) 15:40, 2 March 2023 (UTC)