and houses two countries within its borders – the Vatican and San Marino. #1 in Trendy Italy is a south-central European country, whose boot-shaped borders extend into the Mediterranean Sea.

More than 2,200 people died or disappeared trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea last year, according to the United Nations.

The sparkling blue waters of the Mediterranean ... human pressure on this sea is magnified each summer with the influx of holiday makers. Western civilisation developed around these shores but ...