The Aegean Islands (Greek: Νησιά Αιγαίου, transliterated: Nisiá Aigaíou; Turkish: Ege Adaları) are the group of islands in the Aegean Sea, with mainland Greece to the west and north and Turkey to the east; the island of Crete delimits the sea to the south, those of Rhodes, Karpathos and Kasos to the southeast. The ancient Greek name of the Aegean Sea, Archipelago (ἀρχιπέλαγος) was later applied to the islands it contains and is now used more generally, to refer to any island group.
The Aegean Islands belong to Greece, being split among nine administrative peripheries. The only sizable possessions of Turkey in the Aegean Sea are Imbros (Gökçeada) and Tenedos (Bozcaada), in the northeastern end of the Sea. Turkish islands also include various smaller islets off Turkey's western coast.
The Aegean Islands are traditionally subdivided into seven groups, from north to south:
- Northeastern Aegean Islands
- Sporades
- Euboea
- Argo-Saronic Islands
- Cyclades
- Dodecanese (Southern Sporades)
- Crete
The term Italian Aegean Islands (Italian: Isole Italiane dell’Egeo) is sometimes used to refer to the Aegean islands conquered by Italy during the Italo-Turkish War in 1912 and annexed (through the Treaty of Lausanne) from 1923 until 1947: the Dodecanese, including Rhodes and Kastelorizo.
Famous quotes containing the word islands:
“Consider the islands bearing the names of all the saints, bristling with forts like chestnut-burs, or Echinidæ, yet the police will not let a couple of Irishmen have a private sparring- match on one of them, as it is a government monopoly; all the great seaports are in a boxing attitude, and you must sail prudently between two tiers of stony knuckles before you come to feel the warmth of their breasts.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)