This article is about the group of islands west of Greece. For the administrative unit, seeIonian Islands (region). For the ancient region in western Anatolia, seeIonia.
TheIonian Islands (Modern Greek:Ιόνια νησιά,Ionia nisia;Ancient Greek,Katharevousa:Ἰόνιαι Νῆσοι,Ioniai Nēsoi) are agroup of islands in theIonian Sea, west of mainlandGreece. They are traditionally called theHeptanese ("Seven Islands";Ἑπτάνησα,Heptanēsa orἙπτάνησος,Heptanēsos;Italian:Eptaneso), but the group includes many smaller islands in addition to the seven principal ones.
As a distinct historic region, the collective of islands date to thecenturies-long Venetian rule, which preserved them from the Muslim conquests of theOttoman Empire, and created a distinct cultural identity with many Italian influences. The Ionian Islands became part of the modern Greek state in 1864. Administratively today, they belong to theIonian Islands Region except forKythera, which belongs to theAttica Region.
Kefalonia (Κεφαλονιά) often known as Cefalonia, Cephalonia and Kefallinia in English
Zakynthos (Ζάκυνθος) sometimes known as Zante in English and Italian
Kythira (Κύθηρα) usually known as Cythera in English and sometimes known as Cerigo in English and Italian
The six northern islands are off the west coast of Greece, in theIonian Sea. The seventh island,Kythira, is off the southern tip of thePeloponnese, the southern part of the Greek mainland. Kythira is not part of theregion of theIonian Islands, as it is included in the region ofAttica.
InAncient Greek, the adjectiveIonios (Ἰόνιος) was used as an epithet for the sea betweenEpirus and Italy in which the Ionian Islands are found, because, according to myth,Io swam across it.[2] Although they have the same Latin transliteration andModern Greek pronunciation, the Ionian Sea and Islands are not related toIonia, an Anatolian region; in Greek, the Ionian Sea and Ionian Islands are spelled with anomicron (Ιόνια), whereas Ionia has anomega (Ιωνία), reflecting a classical difference in pronunciation. The two words are still distinguished by stress: the western "Ionia" is accented on theantepenult (IPA:[iˈonia]), and the eastern on thepenult (IPA:[ioˈnia]).
The islands themselves are known by a variety of names. During the centuries of rule byVenice, they acquiredVenetian names, by which some of them are still known in English (and inItalian). Kerkyra was known asCorfù, Ithaki asVal di Compare, Kythera asCerigo, Lefkada asSanta Maura and Zakynthos asZante.
A variety of spellings are used for the Greek names of the islands, particularly in historical writing. Kefallonia is often spelled asCephallenia orCephalonia, Ithaki asIthaca, Kerkyra asCorcyra, Kythera asCythera, Lefkada asLeucas orLeucada and Zakynthos asZacynthus. Older or variant Greek forms are sometimes also used:Kefallinia for Kefallonia andPaxos or Paxoi for Paxi.
The islands were settled by Greeks at an early date, possibly as early as 1200 BC, and certainly by the 9th century BC. The earlyEretrian settlement at Kerkyra was displaced by colonists fromCorinth in 734 BC. The islands were mostly a backwater during Ancient Greek times and played little part in Greek politics. The one exception was the conflict between Kerkyra and its mother-city Corinth in 434 BC, which brought intervention fromAthens and triggered thePeloponnesian War.
Ithaca was the name of the island home ofOdysseus in the epicAncient Greek poem theOdyssey byHomer. Attempts have been made to identify Ithaki with ancient Ithaca, but the geography of the real island cannot be made to fit Homer's description.[dubious –discuss][citation needed] Archeological investigations have revealed findings in both Kefalonia and Ithaca.
By the 4th century BC, most of the islands were absorbed into the empire ofMacedon. Some remained under the control of the Macedonian Kingdom until 146 BC, when the Greek peninsula was gradually annexed byRome. After 400 years of peaceful rule, the islands continued under the control of theEastern Roman or Byzantine Empire after the fall of theWestern Roman Empire.
Under Byzantine rule, from the mid-8th century, they formed thetheme ofCephallenia. The islands were a frequent target ofSaracen raids and from the late 11th century, saw a number ofNorman and Italian attacks. Most of the islands fell toWilliam II of Sicily in 1185. Corfu and Lefkas remained under Byzantine control.
Kefallonia and Zakynthos became theCounty palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos until 1357, when this entity was merged with Lefkada and Ithaki to become the Duchy of Leucadia under French and Italian dukes. Corfu, Paxi and Kythera were taken by the Venetians in 1204, after the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire by theFourth Crusade. These became importantoverseas colonies of the Republic and were used as way-stations for their maritime trade with theLevant.
From 1204, theRepublic of Venice controlled Corfu and slowly all the Ionian islands fell under Venetian rule. In the 15th century, theOttomans conquered most of Greece, but their attempts to conquer the islands were largely unsuccessful. Zakynthos passed permanently to Venice in 1482, Kefalonia and Ithaki in 1483, Lefkada in 1502. Kythera had been in Venetian hands since 1238.
The islands became the only part of the Greek-speaking world to escape Ottoman rule. During this time, large numbers of Greeks moved to the Ionian islands to escape Ottoman persecution. Smaller numbers of Albanian, Aromanian and Slavic-speaking Christians also fled to the islands, though they quickly assimilated into the Greek majority.
Venetian was the official language of the islands during this period, and many Greeks adopted the Venetian language for social advancement. This was bolstered by the arrival of thousands of settlers from other parts of the Venetian Republic, forming the basis of theCorfiot Italian community.[3] The majority of the island, however, remained ethnically, linguistically and religiously Greek. Many Corfiot Italians later Hellenised, adopting the Greek language and religion, such asIoannis Kapodistrias.
In the 18th century, a Greek national independence movement began to emerge, and the free status of the Ionian islands made them the natural base for exiled Greek intellectuals, freedom fighters and foreign sympathisers. The islands became more self-consciously Greek as the 19th century, the century of romantic nationalism, neared.
The flag of theSeptinsular Republic (1800–1807), the first self-governed Greek state since the Middle Ages. It is used as an unofficial flag of the region today.Ioannis Kapodistrias from theIsland of Corfu, founder and first Governor (1828–1831) of the modern Greek state.
In 1809, theBritish Royal Navy defeated theFrench fleet in Zakynthos (October 2, 1809) captured Kefallonia, Kythera and Zakynthos, and took Lefkada in 1810. The French held out in Corfu until 1814. TheTreaty of Paris in 1815 turned the islands into the "United States of the Ionian Islands" under British protection (November 5, 1815). In January 1817, the British granted the islands a new constitution. The islanders elected an Assembly of 40 members, who advised the British High Commissioner. The British greatly improved the islands' communications, and introduced modern education and justice systems. The islanders welcomed most of these reforms, and took up afternoon tea,cricket and other English pastimes. The British also brought thousands of Maltese to the Ionian Islands to work as builders and artisans, forming the basis of theCorfiot Maltese community.
OnceGreek independence was established after 1830, however, the islanders began to press forEnosis – union with Greece. The British statesmanWilliam Ewart Gladstone toured the islands and recommended that having alreadyMalta, giving the islands to Greece would not hurt the interest of theBritish Empire. TheBritish government resisted, since like the Venetians they found the islands made useful naval bases. They also regarded theBavarian-born king of Greece,King Otto, as unfriendly to Britain. However, in 1862, Otto was deposed in a coup by theGreat National Assembly and a new king,George I from Denmark, was elected in his place.[citation needed]
Postal card from 1914 on the 50th anniversary of union with Greece, featuring the flags of Greece and the British protectorate, and the emblems of the seven islands: ancient ship (Corfu), trident (Paxi), Odysseus (Ithaca), Venus (Cythera), Cephalus (Cephalonia), St George (Lefkada), Zacynthus (Zante)
In 1862, Britain decided to transfer the islands to Greece, as a gesture of support intended to bolster the new King's popularity (probably as a counterbalance to the newly established Italian state).
On May 2, 1864, the British departed and the islands became three provinces of the Kingdom of Greece, though Britain retained the use of the port of Corfu. On 21 May 1864 the Ionian Islands officially reunited with Greece.[5] Prince Philippos of Greece and Denmark was born inCorfu in 1921 and grew up to become Britain'sPrince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. In 1923, following orders by Mussolini, the Italians temporarilyoccupied Corfu.
In 1941, whenAxis forces occupied Greece, the Ionian Islands (except Kythera) were handed over to the Italians. Long a target ofItalian expansionism, the Greek civil authorities were replaced by Italians in preparation for a post-war annexation.
In 1943, the Germans replaced the Italians, and deported the centuries-oldJewish community of Corfu to their deaths. By 1944, most of the islands were under the control of theEAM/ELAS resistance movement, and they have remained in general a stronghold of left-wing sentiment ever since.
The 1953 Ionian islands earthquake occurred with a surface wave magnitude of 7.2 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme) on August 12, 1953. Building damage was extensive and the southern islands of Kefalonia and Zakynthos were practically levelled. The islands were reconstructed from the ground up over the following years under a strict building code. The code has proven extremely effective, as many earthquakes since that time have caused no damage to new buildings.
Today, all the islands are part of the Greekregion of theIonian Islands (Ionioi Nisoi), except Kythera, which is part of the region ofAttica. Kerkyra has a population of 103,300 (including Paxoi), Zakynthos 40,650, Kefallonia 39,579 (including Ithaca), Lefkada 22,536, Ithaki 3,052, Kythera 3,000 and Paxi 2,438.
In recent decades, the islands have lost much of their population through emigration and the decline of their traditional industries, fishing and marginal agriculture. Today, their major industry is tourism. Specifically Kerkyra, with its harbour, scenery and wealth of ruins and castles, is a favourite stopping place for cruise liners. British tourists in particular are attracted through having readGerald Durrell's evocative bookMy Family and Other Animals (1956), which describes his childhood on Kerkyra in the 1930s. The novel and movieCaptain Corelli's Mandolin are set in Kefalonia, in which Captain Corelli is part of the Italian occupation force during the Second World War.
The Ionian Islands' official population, excluding Kythera, in 2011 was 207,855, decreased by 1.50% compared to the population in 2001. Nevertheless, the region remains the third by population density with 90.1/km2 nationwide, well above the national of 81.96/km2. The most populous of the major islands is Corfu with a population of 104,371, followed byZakynthos (40,759),Kefalonia (35,801),Lefkada (23,693) andIthaca (3,231).[6] The foreign-born population was in 2001 19,360 or 9.3%, the majority of which was concentrated in Corfu and Zakynthos. Most of them originate fromAlbania (13,536).[7] The fertility rate for 2011 according to Eurostat was 1.35 live births per woman during her lifetime.[8]
The regional gross domestic product for 2010 was 4,029 million euros. The GDP per capita for the same year was 18,440 euros per capita which was lower than the national median of 20,481. However, the GDP per capita of Kefalonia and Zante, 23,275 and 24,616 respectively, was much higher than the national figure.[9] Additionally, unemployment for 2012 was 14.7, the lowest among all Greek regions, and much lower compared to the national unemployment of 24.2.[10]
The region is a popular tourist destination. The airports of Corfu, Zante and Kefalonia were in the top ten in Greece by number of international arrivals, with 1,386,289 international arrivals for 2012, with Corfu being the sixth airport by number of arrivals nationwide. While Kefalonia Airport had the biggest increase nationwide by 13.11% compared to 2011, while Corfu had an increase of 6.31%.[11][12]
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