List of islands of Greece

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Greece has many islands,[Note 1] with estimates ranging from somewhere around 1,200[1] to 6,000,[2] depending on the minimum size to take into account. The number of inhabited islands is variously cited as between 166[3] and 227.[2]

Regions of the Greek islands

The largest Greek island by both area and population is Crete, located at the southern edge of the Aegean Sea. The second largest island in area is Euboea or Evvia, which is separated from the mainland by the 60m-wide Euripus Strait, and is administered as part of the Central Greece region. After the third and fourth largest Greek islands, Lesbos and Rhodes, the rest of the islands are two-thirds of the area of Rhodes, or smaller.

The Greek islands are traditionally grouped into the following clusters: the Argo-Saronic Islands in the Saronic Gulf near Athens; the Cyclades, a large but dense collection occupying the central part of the Aegean Sea; the North Aegean islands, a loose grouping off the west coast of Turkey; the Dodecanese, another loose collection in the southeast between Crete and Turkey; the Sporades, a small tight group off the coast of Euboea; and the Ionian Islands, chiefly located to the west of the mainland in the Ionian Sea. Crete with its surrounding islets and Euboea are traditionally excluded from this grouping.

This article excludes the Peloponnese, which has technically been an island since the construction of the Corinth Canal in 1893, but is rarely considered to be an island due to its artificial origins.

Islands of Greece by size

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A NASA image of Crete
 
A NASA image of Rhodes
 
Ithaca is to the upper right of the larger Kefalonia island in this picture. The small island in the top-right corner is the uninhabited Atokos island.

The following are the 50 largest Greek islands listed by surface area.

Island Greek name Area
(km2)
Area
(miles2)
Cluster
1 Crete Κρήτη 8,336 3,219 Cretan
2 Evia Εύβοια 3,670 1,417 Euboean
3 Lesbos Λέσβος 1,633 631 North Aegean Islands
4 Rhodes Ρόδος 1,401 541 Dodecanese
5 Chíos Χίος 842.3 325 North Aegean Islands
6 Kefalonia Κεφαλονιά 781 302 Ionian Islands
7 Corfu Κέρκυρα 592.9 229 Ionian Islands
8 Lemnos Λήμνος 477.6 184 North Aegean Islands
9 Samos Σάμος 477.4 184 North Aegean Islands
10 Naxos Νάξος 429.8 166 Cyclades
11 Zakynthos Ζάκυνθος 406 157 Ionian Islands
12 Thassos Θάσος 380.1 147 North Aegean Islands
13 Andros Άνδρος 380.0 147 Cyclades
14 Lefkada Λευκάδα 303 117 Ionian Islands
15 Karpathos Κάρπαθος 300 116 Dodecanese
16 Kos Κως 290.3 112 Dodecanese
17 Kythira Κύθηρα 279.6 108 Ionian Islands
18 Icaria Ικαρία 255 98 North Aegean Islands
19 Skyros Σκύρος 209 81 Sporades
20 Paros Πάρος 195 75 Cyclades
21 Tinos Τήνος 194 75 Cyclades
22 Samothrace Σαμοθράκη 178 69 North Aegean Islands
23 Milos Μήλος 151 58 Cyclades
24 Kea Κέα 132 51 Cyclades
25 Amorgos Αμοργός 121 47 Cyclades
26 Kalymnos Κάλυμνος 110 42 Dodecanese
27 Ios Ίος 108 42 Cyclades
28 Kythnos Κύθνος 99.4 38 Cyclades
29 Astypalaia Αστυπάλαια 96.4 37 Dodecanese
30 Ithaca Ιθάκη 96.2 37 Ionian Islands
31 Salamis Σαλαμίνα 96.2 37 Argo-Saronic
32 Skopelos Σκόπελος 96.2 37 Sporades
33 Mykonos Μύκονος 85.5 33 Cyclades
34 Syros Σύρος 83.6 32 Cyclades
35 Aegina Αίγινα 82.6 32 Argo-Saronic
36 Santorini Σαντορίνη 76.2 29 Cyclades
37 Serifos Σέριφος 75.2 29 Cyclades
38 Sifnos Σίφνος 73.9 29 Cyclades
39 Kasos Κάσος 69.5 27 Dodecanese
40 Alonnisos Αλόννησος 64.1 25 Sporades
41 Tilos Τήλος 61.5 24 Dodecanese
42 Symi Σύμη 57.8 22 Dodecanese
43 Leros Λέρος 54 21 Dodecanese
44 Hydra Ύδρα 49.6 19 Argo-Saronic
45 Skiathos Σκιάθος 47.3 18 Sporades
46 Agios Efstratios Άγιος Ευστράτιος 43.3 17 North Aegean Islands
47 Sikinos Σίκινος 41.6 16 Cyclades
48 Nisyros Νίσυρος 41.2 16 Dodecanese
49 Psara Ψαρά 40.4 16 North Aegean Islands
50 Anafi Ανάφη 38.6 15 Cyclades

Islands of Greece by population

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Island Population
Crete 624,408
Evia 191,206
Rhodes 125,113
Corfu 99,134
Lesbos 83,755
Chios 50,361
Zakynthos 41,180
Salamis 37,220
Kos 37,089
Kefalonia 36,064
Samos 32,642
Lefkada 21,900
Syros 21,507
Naxos 20,578
Lemnos 16,411
Kalymnos 17,752
Santorini 15,480
Thasos 13,104
Paros 14,520
Aegina 12,911
Mykonos 10,704
Tinos 8,934
Andros 8,826
Icaria 8,843
Leros 7,992
Skiathos 5,802
Aitoliko 4,935
Karpathos 6,567
Milos 5,302
Skopelos 4,518
Kythira 3,644
Ithaca 2,862
Patmos 3,283
Skyros 3,052
Samothrace 2,596
Sifnos 2,777
Alonnisos 3,138
Symi 2,603
Kea 2,335
Paxos 2,466
Poros 3,261
Spetses 3,748
Ios 2,299
Hydra 2,070
Amorgos 1,961

Islands of the Aegean Sea

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Argo-Saronic Islands

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The port city of Hydra on Hydra Island

This list includes Argo-Saronic islands [4] , which are located in the Saronic Gulf. The largest Argo-Saronic island is Salamis. The main islands are in bold. Uninhabited islands are indicated, including those that may have been inhabited in the past:

Cretan island

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The two lists below show the islands, islets, and rocks that surround the island of Crete that are in the Aegean Sea or Libyan Sea.

Cretan islands of the Aegean Sea

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The islet of Leon, on the left, next to the larger islet of Souda, within Souda bay
 
Spinalonga (Kalydon)
 
The islet of Pondikonisi, mouse island, which is shaped like a mouse.

Cretan islands of the Libyan Sea

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The islet of Trafos in the Libyan Sea

Islands on the south coast of Crete are considered in the Libyan Sea.

Cyclades islands

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The Cyclades islands
 
Iconic windmills of Mykonos

The Cyclades islands comprise around 220 islands and islets. The main islands are indicated in bold below.[8][9]

Dodecanese islands

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The Dodecanese Islands
 
A harbor on the island of Astypalaia

There are 164 total Dodecanese Islands of which 26 are inhabited. There are 12 main islands, listed in bold below:

Euboea and surrounding islands

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North Aegean islands

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There are also two North Aegean islands in the Thracian Sea:

Sporades islands

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The Northern Sporades

The 30 islands in the Sporades are listed below, with the four major islands in bold. The largest Sporades island is Skyros.

Ionian Sea islands

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The main Ionian Islands
 
The Echinades islands

Islands in the Ionian Sea are listed below. The seven largest and most popular islands are listed in bold.[14][15]

Islets close to mainland

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The following islands are close to the mainland and not part of a sea:

Islands not in the sea

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Lake and river islands

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Ioannina Island in Lake Pamvotida

Islands in an island

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Lagoon islands

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ In Greek: Island-Νησί (Nisi), Islet-Νησάκι (Nisáki)

References

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  1. ^ John S. Bowman; Sherry Marker; Peter Keraislands siotis; Heidi Sarna (2010). "Greece in depth". Frommer's Greece (7th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-470-52663-7.
  2. ^ a b "Islands". Visit Greece - Official website of the Greek National Tourism Organisation. Hellenic Organization of Tourism (EOT; Ελληνικός Οργανισμός Τουρισμού). Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  3. ^ Poffley, Frewin (20 December 2012). Greek island hopping, 23rd ed. 2013. Thomas Cook Publishing. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-84848-569-3. OCLC 827800689.
  4. ^ "Islands of the Argo Saronic Gulf".
  5. ^ Google Maps
  6. ^ a b "Islands of Greece". GeoNames. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  7. ^ "Nisida Agio Pantes". GeoNames. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  8. ^ "Tageo Worldwide Index for Greece Islands". Tageo, www.tageo.com. Retrieved 24 March 2020.(in English)
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq "Islands of the Cyclades". GeoNames. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  10. ^ "Glaronisi, South Aegean". GeoNames. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  11. ^ "Mikro Glaronisi". GeoNames. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  12. ^ "Mikro Sofrano". GeoNames. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  13. ^ "Nerónisi". GeoNames. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  14. ^ "Ionian Islands of Greece". GeoNames. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  15. ^ Kruse, Hellas, vol. ii. pt. ii. p. 455, seq.; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iii. pp. 30, seq., 50, seq.; Mure, Tour in Greece, vol. i. p. 104.
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