38°30′16″N26°42′53″E / 38.50444°N 26.71472°E /38.50444; 26.71472
Uzunada orUzun ada (literally "long island") is an island situated at the entry of theGulf of İzmir on the west coast ofTurkey. Its area is 26.8 km2 (10 sq mi).[1]
It is situated between theKaraburun Peninsula, Turkey in the west, and the district ofFoça in the east. Stretching over a length of c. 9 kilometres (6 miles) in north-south direction, it is Turkey's fourth largest island, and its third largest in theAegean Sea.[1]
The island has been called by many names. Itsancient Greek name wasDrymoussa (Δρυμούσσα), and it is also known under its later Greek names ofMakronisi ("long island") orEnglezonisi ("Englishmen's island"),[2][3] but more likely is that this name is derived from the wordEnclazomenisi from ancient cityClazomenae at the opposite coast. To its south are several smaller islets, includingYassıca. It has also been called "Chustan Island" (or Keustan).[4]
"Uzunada" is also the name of several other, smaller islets along the Turkish Aegean coast.[3] Uzunada is currently closed to settlements due to military activities, making it the biggest uninhabited island in theMediterranean Sea
Thucydides briefly mentions Drymoussa as a location where some ships of theSpartan NavarchAstyochus put in for eight days during a period of high winds in the 20th year of thePeloponnesian War.[5]
After theTreaty of Apamea was concluded in 188 B.C., the city ofClazomenae was awarded the island.[6][7][8]
Despite claims of ownership of an English family dating from the mid-19th century, by 1914 there were about 2,000Ottoman Greeks living on the island.[9]
DuringWorld War I, the BritishMediterranean Fleet occupied the island (referred to as "Chustan") in 1916, where they also issued some rare stamps.[10][11]
After thepopulation exchange between Greece and Turkey, most of the island's former inhabitants settled inNea Ionia, Magnesia.[12]
