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Concept
Ionian Islands
Summary
The Ionian Islands (Modern Greek: Ιόνια νησιά, Ionia nisia; Ancient Greek, Katharevousa: Ἰόνιαι Νῆσοι, Ionioi Nēsoi) are a group of islands in the Ionian Sea, west of mainland Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese ("Seven Islands"; Ἑπτάνησα, Heptanēsa or Ἑπτάνησος, Heptanēsos; Eptaneso), but the group includes many smaller islands as well as the seven principal ones.
As a distinct historic region, they date to the centuries-long Venetian rule, which preserved them from Muslim conquests for the Ottoman 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 the Ionian Islands Region except for Kythera, which belongs to the Attica Region.
The seven islands are, from north to south:
Kerkyra (Κέρκυρα) usually known as Corfu in English and Corfù in Italian
Paxi (Παξοί) also known as Paxos in English
Lefkada (Λευκάδα) also known as Lefkas in English
Ithaki (Ιθάκη) usually known as Ithaca in English
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 the Ionian Sea. The seventh island, Kythira, is off the southern tip of the Peloponnese, the southern part of the Greek mainland. Kythira is not part of the region of the Ionian Islands, as it is included in the region of Attica.
In Ancient Greek, the adjective Ionios (Ἰόνιος) was used as an epithet for the sea between Epirus and Italy in which the Ionian Islands are found, because, according to myth, Io swam across it. Although they have the same Latin transliteration and Modern Greek pronunciation, the Ionian Sea and Islands are not related to Ionia, an Anatolian region; in Greek, the Ionian Sea and Ionian Islands are spelled with an omicron (Ιόνια), whereas Ionia has an omega (Ιωνία), reflecting a classical difference in pronunciation.
Official source
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