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

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

The following are the 40 largest Greek islands listed by surface area.

Islands of Greece by population

Islands of the Aegean Sea

Argo-Saronic Islands

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:

Cretan island

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

Cretan islands of the Libyan Sea

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

Cyclades islands

The Cyclades islands comprise around 220 islands and islets. The main islands are indicated in bold below.

Dodecanese islands

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

Euboea and surrounding islands

North Aegean islands

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

• Samothrace, 40°29′N 25°31′E
• Thassos, 40°41′N 24°39′E

Sporades islands

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

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

Islets close to mainland

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

Islands not in the sea

Lake and river islands

Islands in an island

• Marathi Island (Marathi Lake (reservoir) in Mykonos), 37°28′00.8″N 25°21′31.9″E

Lagoon islands

See also

• Geography of Greece
• List of Aegean Islands
• Lists of islands
• List of islands of Turkey
• List of islands in the Mediterranean

Notes

References

• "List of all Greek island". the Island Voyager. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
• "List of Greek Islands". Sailing Heaven. 26 October 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
• Richard Talbert (2000). Richard J. A. Talbert (ed.). Barrington Atlas Map-by-Map Directory (Two-Volumes). Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-04945-9., Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World

External links

• Greek Islands travel guide from Wikivoyage