Greece is one of the countries with the largest coastline and the most islands. But most people don't know how many islands there are in Greece and where most of them are located.
Most of the Greek islands are in the Aegean Sea, less in the Ionian Sea and a few in the Libyan Sea, but also in other smaller seas.
In total there are about 6,000 islands, islets and islets in Greece. Only 107 of these are inhabited, of which only 53 have a population of over 1,000. The total population living on the islands is 1,754,325 according to the 2011 census.
The islands of the Aegean Sea are divided into seven complexes:
Crete
Euboea
Northeast Aegean Islands (Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Lemnos, Thassos, Ikaria, Samothrace, Fourni, Oinousses, etc.)
The Northern Sporades, with the main islands Skiathos, Skopelos, Skyros, Alonissos
Argosaronikos Islands, with islands like Salamina, Aegina, Poros, Spetses, Hydra, Agistri and Dokos
The Cyclades, with the most important islands Syros, Naxos, Thira (Santorini), Paros, Andros, Mykonos, Tinos, Milos, etc.
The Dodecanese, with the main islands of Rhodes, Kos, Kalymnos, Leros, Karpathos, Patmos, Symi, Astypalea, Kasos, Nisyros, etc.
The islands of the Ionian Sea are complex:
The Ionian Islands, with the main islands of Corfu, Zakynthos, Kefalonia, Lefkada, Kythira, Ithaca, Paxos, Meganisi, Ereikoussa, Kalamos, Othonos, Mathraki, Kastos, Strofades, Antikythera, Antipaxos, Atoko, Arkoudi, Petalas and Oxia.
There are also a number of islands that are not part of a complex and are very close to the mainland coasts. The most important are Elafonisos on the southeastern tip of the Peloponnese, Ammouliani in the Gulf of Mount Athos, Paleo Trikeri in the Pagasitikos and the Trizonia of Fokida in the Corinthian Gulf.
A special case is the islands of inland waters (lakes, natural or artificial, rivers), the most important being the island of Ioannina in Lake Pamvotida and Agios Achilleosti in Lake Mikri Prespa, while many other islands exist in estuaries and river deltas as well as lakes, the most important being Tourlida in the Lagoon of Messolonghi.
