The (Northern) Sporades are an

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

along the east coast of

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, northeast of the island of

Euboea Euboea ( ; , ), also known by its modern spelling Evia ( ; , ), is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete, and the sixth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by ...

,"Skyros - Britannica Concise" (description), Britannica Concise, 2006, webpage
EB-Skyros
notes "including Skiathos, Skopelos, Skyros, and Alonnisos." in the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans and Anatolia, and covers an area of some . In the north, the Aegean is connected to the Marmara Sea, which in turn con ...

. They consist of 24 islands, four of which are permanently inhabited:

Alonnisos Alonnisos ( ), also transliterated as Alonissos, is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. After Skiathos and Skopelos it is the third member of the Northern Sporades. It is (2 nm) east of the island of Skopelos. Alonnisos is also the name of a vi ...

, Skiathos,

Skopelos Skopelos (, ) is a Greek island in the western Aegean Sea. Skopelos is one of several islands that comprise the Northern Sporades island group, which lies east of the Pelion peninsula on the mainland and north of the island of Euboea. It is par ...

and

Skyros Skyros (, ), in some historical contexts Romanization of Greek, Latinized Scyros (, ), is an island in Greece. It is the southernmost island of the Sporades, an archipelago in the Aegean Sea. Around the 2nd millennium BC, the island was known as ...

. They may also be referred to as the Thessalian Sporades ().

Etymology

"Sporades" means "those scattered" (compare with "sporadic"). From

Classical Antiquity Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural History of Europe, European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the inter ...

the name has referred to the Aegean island groups outside the central archipelago of the

Cyclades The CYCLADES computer network () was a French research network created in the early 1970s. It was one of the pioneering networks experimenting with the concept of packet switching and, unlike the ARPANET, was explicitly designed to facilitate i ...

Geography

In modern geographical parlance, there are five different Sporades groups: * Thessalian Sporades () or Northern Sporades. Since 1960, the term "Sporades" refers mainly to these islands: **

** Skiathos **

Kyra Panagia Kyra Panagia ( ) is a Greek island in the Sporades archipelago, in the northern Aegean Sea. It is administratively part of the municipality of Alonnisos in the Sporades regional unit. The island is also known by the name of Pelagos and rarely Pel ...

Peristera Peristera (, feminine form of pigeon), also Aspro, locally Xero (meaning dry), Eudemia in antiquity, is a Greece, Greek island in the Sporades, in the Aegean Sea. It is administratively part of the municipality of Alonnisos and is also directly ...

Gioura Gioura ( ), sometimes romanized as Youra, is a Greek island and abandoned settlement in the eastern part of the Northern Sporades archipelago. It is administratively part of the municipality of Alonnisos. The island's name comes from the ancient ...

Skantzoura Skantzoura () is an island in the Sporades archipelago, along the east coast of Greece. The island is located southeast of the larger island of Alonnisos (to which it belongs administratively) and northwest of the island of Skyros Skyros (, ...

** Piperi ** Tsougria *

Saronic Islands The Saronic Islands or Argo-Saronic Islands is an archipelago in Greece, named after the Saronic Gulf in which they are located, just off the Greek mainland. The main inhabited islands of this group are Salamis, Aegina, Agistri, and Poros. Th ...

or Western Sporades(): Salamis, Aigina,

Poros Poros (; ) is a small Greek island-pair in the southern part of the Saronic Gulf, about south of the port of Piraeus and separated from the Peloponnese by a wide sea channel, with the town of Galatas on the mainland across the strait. Its surf ...

, Hydra,

Spetses Spetses (, "Pityussa") is an island in Attica, Greece. It is counted among the Saronic Islands group. Until 1948, it was part of the old prefecture of Argolis and Corinthia Prefecture, which is now split into Argolis and Corinthia. In ancient ...

, and the other islands of the

Saronic Gulf The Saronic Gulf ( Greek: Σαρωνικός κόλπος, ''Saronikós kólpos'') or Gulf of Aegina in Greece is formed between the peninsulas of Attica and Argolis and forms part of the Aegean Sea. It defines the eastern side of the isthmus of C ...

and the Myrtoan Sea. * Southern Sporades (), i.e. the

Dodecanese The Dodecanese (, ; , ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger and 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited. This island group generally define ...

, to which group

Samos Samos (, also ; , ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese archipelago, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the Mycale Strait. It is also a separate reg ...

and

Ikaria Ikaria, also spelled Icaria (; ), is a Greece, Greek island in the Aegean Sea, 10 nautical miles (19 km) southwest of Samos. Administratively, Ikaria forms a separate municipality within the Ikaria (regional unit), Ikaria regional unit, ...

are sometimes appended. *

Eastern Sporades Eastern Sporades (Greek language, Greek: ''Ανατολικές Σποράδες'') or Eastern Islands (Greek: ''Ανατολικοί Νήσοι'') was the name of one of the thirteen divisions (administrative districts) created in 1828 with the ad ...

or Anatolic Sporades (), i.e. the islands of the eastern and northeastern Aegean, near the coast of

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of , with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, eighth largest ...

Chios Chios (; , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, tenth largest island in the Medi ...

Tenedos Tenedos (, ''Tenedhos''; ), or Bozcaada in Turkish language, Turkish, is an island of Turkey in the northeastern part of the Aegean Sea. Administratively, the island constitutes the Bozcaada, Çanakkale, Bozcaada district of Çanakkale Provinc ...

, Psara, Oinousses and smaller island groups. * Thracian Sporades ():

Thasos Thasos or Thassos (, ''Thásos'') is a Greek island in the North Aegean Sea. It is the northernmost major Greek island, and 12th largest by area. The island has an area of 380 km2 and a population of about 13,000. It forms a separate regiona ...

Samothrace Samothrace (also known as Samothraki; , ) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. It is a municipality within the Evros regional unit of Thrace. The island is long, in size and has a population of 2,596 (2021 census). Its main industries ...

Imbros Imbros (; ; ), officially Gökçeada () since 29 July 1970,Alexis Alexandris, "The Identity Issue of The Minorities in Greece And Turkey", in Hirschon, Renée (ed.), ''Crossing the Aegean: An Appraisal of the 1923 Compulsory Population Exchang ...

Lemnos Lemnos ( ) or Limnos ( ) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos (regional unit), Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean modern regions of Greece ...

and Agios Efstratios. The two latter groups together form the North Aegean islands.

Administration

As part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the ''Sporades Regional Unit'' () was created out of part of the former Magnesia Prefecture,

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

Thessaly Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...

. The regional unit is subdivided into 3 municipalities. These are: * Skiathos (1) *

(3) *

(2) The island of

and a few uninhabited islets in its area are part of the '' Euboea regional unit'' and the '' administrative region of Central Greece''.

Notes

References

Sources

* "Skyros – Britannica Concise" (description), Britannica Concise, 2006, webpage
EB-Skyros

External links

Skiathos Villas

Sporades
The Official website of the Greek National Tourism Organisation
Skopelos island Travel Guide since 1999

Alonnisos island Travel Guide
Archipelagoes of Greece Landforms of Thessaly Aegean islands {{Thessaly-geo-stub tr:Ege Adaları#Eğriboz ve Şeytan Adaları (Kuzey Sporatlar, Tesalya Adaları)