Aegean islands

Aegean Sea is a part of the Mediterranean Sea, located between Greece on the west and Asia Minor on the east. About 640 km long and 320 km wide, it has a total area of some 250,000 square km. The Aegean is connected through the straits of the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara, and the Bosporus to the Black Sea, while the island of Crete can be taken as marking its boundary to the south.

The sea's maximum depth is 3,420 metres, located south of Thera (Santorini). The Aegean Islands are found within its waters, with the following islands delimiting the sea on the south (generally from west to east): Kythera, Antikythera, Crete, Kasos, Karpathos, and Rhodes. The Aegean Sea has low tides and water saltiness varies from 39% to 22%. The scenery and topology of the Aegean Sea varies greately from one area to another due to earthquakes and sinkings that have occured in the past.

Aegean Sea most probably owes its name to Aegeas, the father of Theseus who killed himself by falling into the sea when he thaught his son, while waiting for the Argonauts to return from their expedition, was dead.

The Greek Aegean Islands can be simply divided into six groups: the Northeastern Aegean Islands, Euboea, the Sporades, the Cyclades, the Saronic Islands (or Argo-Saronic Islands), the Dodecanese islands, and Crete. The word archipelago was originally applied specifically to the Aegean Sea and its islands. Many of the Aegean Islands, or chains of islands, are actually extensions of the mountains on the mainland. One chain extends across the sea to Chios, another extends across Euboea to Samos, and a third extends across the Peloponnese and Crete to Rhodes, dividing the Aegean from the Mediterranean. Many of the islands have safe harbours and bays, but navigation through the sea is generally difficult due to strong winds and currents usually found in the area. Many of the islands are volcanic, and marble and iron are mined on other islands. The larger islands have some fertile valleys and plains. In the Aegean Sea there are two islands belonging to Turkey, Tenedos and Imvros, while the rest belonging to Greece. The Aegean Sea has about 1,415 islands and islets, of which 1,395 belong to Greece.

The bays and gulfs of the Aegean beginning and the South and moving clockwise include on Crete, the Mirabelli, Almyros, Souda and Chania bays or gulfs, on the mainland the Myrtoan Sea to the west, the Saronic Gulf northwestward, the Petalies Gulf which connects with the South Euboic Sea, the Pagasetic Gulf which connects with the North Euboic Sea, the Thermian Gulf northwestward, the Chalkidiki Peninsula including the Cassandra and the Singitic Gulfs, northward the Strymonian Gulf and the Gulf of Kavala.

Organized communities with a distinct civilization have been found to exist in the Aegean since the 6th milenium B.C., even before humans managed to use metals. Major civilizations like the Cycladic and the Minoan have flourished and the Aegean's endlessly rich history carries on till modern times.

Aegean islands and groups of islands

Crete island
Cyclades islands
Dodecanese islands
Evia island
Northeastern Aegean islands
Saronic islands
Sporades islands

The Aegean Sea includes the Myrtoan Sea (East Peloponnese), the Euboian Gulf, the Thracian Sea and the Cretan Sea.