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]
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
The following are the 40 largest Greek islands listed by surface area.
Island | Greek name | Area (miles2) | Area (km2) | Cluster | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Crete | Κρήτη | 3,219 | 8,336 | Cretan |
2 | Evia | Εύβοια | 1,417 | 3,670 | Euboean |
3 | Lesbos | Λέσβος | 630 | 1,633 | North Aegean Islands |
4 | Rhodes | Ρόδος | 541 | 1,401 | Dodecanese |
5 | Chíos | Χίος | 325 | 842.3 | North Aegean Islands |
6 | Kefalonia | Κεφαλονιά | 302 | 781 | Ionian Islands |
7 | Corfu | Κέρκυρα | 229 | 592.9 | Ionian Islands |
8 | Lemnos | Λήμνος | 184 | 477.6 | North Aegean Islands |
9 | Samos | Σάμος | 184 | 477.4 | North Aegean Islands |
10 | Naxos | Νάξος | 166 | 429.8 | Cyclades |
11 | Zakynthos | Ζάκυνθος | 157 | 406 | Ionian Islands |
12 | Thassos | Θάσος | 147 | 380.1 | North Aegean Islands |
13 | Andros | Άνδρος | 147 | 380.0 | Cyclades |
14 | Lefkada | Λευκάδα | 117 | 303 | Ionian Islands |
15 | Karpathos | Κάρπαθος | 116 | 300 | Dodecanese |
16 | Kos | Κως | 112 | 290.3 | Dodecanese |
17 | Kythira | Κύθηρα | 108 | 279.6 | Ionian Islands |
18 | Icaria | Ικαρία | 99 | 255 | North Aegean Islands |
19 | Skyros | Σκύρος | 81 | 209 | Sporades |
20 | Paros | Πάρος | 75 | 195 | Cyclades |
21 | Tinos | Τήνος | 75 | 194 | Cyclades |
22 | Samothrace | Σαμοθράκη | 69 | 178 | North Aegean Islands |
23 | Milos | Μήλος | 58 | 151 | Cyclades |
24 | Kea | Κέα | 51 | 132 | Cyclades |
25 | Amorgos | Αμοργός | 47 | 121 | Cyclades |
26 | Kalymnos | Κάλυμνος | 42.5 | 110 | Dodecanese |
27 | Ios | Ίος | 41.7 | 108 | Cyclades |
28 | Kythnos | Κύθνος | 38.4 | 99.4 | Cyclades |
29 | Astypalaia | Αστυπάλαια | 37.2 | 96.4 | Dodecanese |
30 | Ithaca | Ιθάκη | 37.1 | 96.2 | Ionian Islands |
31 | Salamis | Σαλαμίνα | 37.1 | 96.2 | Argo-Saronic |
32 | Skopelos | Σκόπελος | 37.1 | 96.2 | Sporades |
33 | Mykonos | Μύκονος | 33.0 | 85.5 | Cyclades |
34 | Syros | Σύρος | 32.0 | 83.6 | Cyclades |
35 | Aegina | Αίγινα | 31.9 | 82.6 | Argo-Saronic |
36 | Santorini | Σαντορίνη | 29.4 | 76.2 | Cyclades |
37 | Serifos | Σέριφος | 29.0 | 75.2 | Cyclades |
38 | Sifnos | Σίφνος | 28.6 | 73.9 | Cyclades |
39 | Kasos | Κάσος | 26.8 | 69.5 | Dodecanese |
40 | Alonnisos | Αλόννησος | 24.7 | 64.1 | Sporades |
Island | Population |
---|---|
Crete | 636,504 |
Evia | 191,206 |
Rhodes | 125,113 |
Lesbos | 83,755 |
Corfu | 102,071 |
Chios | 50,361 |
Zakynthos | 41,180 |
Salamis | 37,220 |
Kefalonia | 36,064 |
Kos | 37,089 |
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 |
This list includes Argo-Saronic islands, 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:
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.
Islands on the south coast of Crete are considered in the Libyan Sea.
The Cyclades islands comprise around 220 islands and islets. The main islands are indicated in bold below. [7] [8]
There are 164 total Dodecanese Islands of which 26 are inhabited. There are 12 main islands, as listed in bold below:
There are also two North Aegean islands in the Thracian Sea:
The 30 islands in the Sporades are listed below with the four major islands in bold. The largest Sporades island is Skyros.
Islands in the Ionian Sea are listed below. The seven largest and most popular islands are listed in bold. [13] [14]
The following islands are close to the mainland and not part of a sea:
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