Editing Aegean Sea (section)

== History ==
The Aegean coast and islands supported some of the earliest urban and maritime societies in Europe. The Minoan civilization developed on Crete and used maritime routes across the southern Aegean. The Mycenaean civilization occupied parts of mainland Greece and established settlements on several islands. Sea routes allowed these communities to exchange goods and maintain contact across the basin.

Ancient Greek communities developed on both the European and Anatolian coasts. Athens used the sea to maintain trade and naval access from Attica. Miletus and Ephesus became coastal centres in Anatolia, while Rhodes occupied an important position near the southeastern approaches. Aegean routes carried merchants and military forces between these cities. The region later came under Macedonian authority before its incorporation into the Roman world.<ref name="southern-europe-history"/>

The Aegean remained an important maritime region under the [[Byzantine Empire]]. Byzantine authority depended on ports and island routes that connected the Greek mainland with Anatolia. Venetian and Genoese forces later controlled individual ports or islands during periods of weakened Byzantine authority. The [[Ottoman Empire]] gradually took control of most of the surrounding coasts and islands.

Greek independence began a long territorial change around the sea during the nineteenth century. Ottoman authority receded from much of southeastern Europe, and most Aegean islands eventually became part of Greece. The eastern mainland coast remained part of Turkey. These changes established the modern division of the sea between the two countries.