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The island groups of the Aegean Sea. The Ionian Sea and most of its islands are not pictured.

Greece has a large number of islands, 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 area is Crete, located at the southern edge of the Aegean Sea. The second largest island is Euboea, 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.

Islands of Greece by size

The following are the largest Greek islands listed by surface area. The table includes all islands of over 37 square miles (96 km²).

Saronic Islands

Inhabited islands

Uninhabited islands

This list includes islands that may have been inhabited in the past but are now uninhabited:

Northern Sporades

Main islands

Other islands and islets

Ionian Islands

The Greek mainland and several small islands seen from Nydri, Lefkada

Main seven

Others

Dodecanese Islands

164 total islands of which 26 are inhabited.

Main 12 islands

Minor islands

Aegean Islands

Of the Aegean Sea

Of the Thracian Sea

• Samothraki


• Thasos

The Cyclades

Cyclades comprise around 220 islands

Main islands

Other islands and islets

Cretan islands

This is a list of islands, islets, and rocks that surround the island of Crete.

Of the Aegean Sea

The islet of Leon, on the left, next to the larger islet of Souda, within Souda bay

Spinalonga (Kalydon)

The islet of Pontikonisi (mouse island) which has the shape of a mouse.

Of the Libyan Sea

The islet of Trafos in the Libyan Sea

Euboea and surrounding islands

Islets close to mainland

• 
  Pera Island (Arta Hipirus^{[6][better source needed]})

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

• List of Aegean Islands


• List of islands


• List of islands in the Mediterranean

Notes

References

External links

• 
  Greek Islands travel guide from Wikivoyage