THE MEDITERRANEAN PEOPLES.* 
By THEOBALD FISCHER, 
Universily of Marburg. 
The Mediterranean region for many years has stood in the fore- 
ground of international politics. Morocco has drawn the attention 
of the whole world to her by the events happening on her coasts; 
events which have already resulted in the occupation by the French 
of the eastern frontier town Ujda, near which Bu Amara still 
holds sway; events which have been echoed in and around Casa- 
blanca, in all of Morocco, in the other Atlas countries, and in fact 
all through the world of Islam. 
In comparison with the active commercial interest which appar- 
ently all the nations of Europe take in the Mediterranean, the 
inhabitants of these countries have been almost entirely in the back- 
ground. That they are so little known and have been deemed hardly 
worthy of consideration has again and again caused events very sur- 
prising to the European diplomats and people in general. The pur- 
pose of this paper is therefore to give a general outline of the 
variegated mixture of races on the shores of the Mediterranean 
and in the adjoiing inland countries, with an account of their 
numbers and distribution. The figures are given in round numbers, 
sufficiently accurate, however, for the present purpose. As a matter 
of fact, it would be difficult for anyone to tell exactly how many 
Berbers and Albanians there are, or even the number of Greeks and 
Turks. 
The most important results of this investigation, I should say at 
the very beginning, may be considered with these three statements 
before us: 
1. The Mediterranean countries are as a rule very thinly popu- 
lated, and the tendency is for the inhabitants to remain chiefly along 
the coast. 
2. One-third of all the inhabitants of the coast countries of the 
Mediterranean are of one race—the Italian. 
“'Translated, by permission, from the Internationale Wochenschrift. Berlin, 
September 7, 14, 21, 28, 1907. 
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