Sporades

Sporades Περιφερειακή ενότητα Σποράδων
Regional unit
The Sporades
The Sporades within the Aegean Sea
Coordinates: 39°7′N 23°43′E / 39.117°N 23.717°ECoordinates: 39°7′N 23°43′E / 39.117°N 23.717°E
Country	Greece
Region	Thessaly
Area
• Total	275.7 km^2 (106.4 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	13,798
• Density	50/km^2 (130/sq mi)

The (Northern) Sporades (/ˈspɒrədiːz/; Greek: Βόρειες Σποράδες) are an archipelago along the east coast of Greece, northeast of the island of Euboea,^[1] in the Aegean Sea. They consists of 24 islands, four of which are permanently inhabited: Alonnisos, Skiathos, Skopelos and Skyros.^[1] They may also be referred to as the Thessalian Sporades (Θεσσαλικές Σποράδες).

Etymology

"Sporades" means "those scattered" (compare with "sporadic"), and was used from Classical Antiquity to refer to the Aegean island groups outside the central archipelago of the Cyclades. In modern geographical parlance, there are five different Sporades groups:

• Thessalian Sporades (Θεσσαλικές Σποράδες) or Northern Sporades. Since ca. 1960, the term "Sporades" refers mainly to these islands:
  • Skopelos
  • Alonnisos
  • Skiathos
  • Kyra Panagia
  • Peristera
  • Gioura
  • Skantzoura
  • Piperi
  • Tsougria
• Thracian Sporades (Θρακικές Σποράδες): Thasos, Samothrace, Imbros, Lemnos and Agios Efstratios
• Western Sporades (Δυτικές Σποράδες): Salamis, Aigina, Poros, Hydra, Spetses, and the other islands of the Saronic Gulf and the Myrtoan Sea.
• Eastern Sporades (Ανατολικές Σποράδες), i.e. the islands of the eastern and northeastern Aegean, neighbouring the coast of Asia Minor : Samos, Ikaria, Lesbos, Chios, Tenedos, Psara, Oinousses and smaller island groups
• Southern Sporades (Νότιες Σποράδες), i.e. the Dodecanese, to which group Samos and Ikaria are sometimes appended.

Administration

Sporades regional unit

As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the regional unit Sporades (Greek: Περιφερειακή ενότητα Σποράδων) was created out of part of the former Magnesia Prefecture, region of Thessaly. The regional unit is subdivided into 3 municipalities. These are:^[2]

• Skiathos (1)
• Skopelos (3)
• Alonnisos (2)

The island of Skyros with a few uninhabited islets of its area is part of the region of Central Greece.

References

1. "Skyros - Britannica Concise" (description), Britannica Concise, 2006, webpage: EB-Skyros notes "including Skiathos, Skopelos, Skyros, and Alonnisos."
2. "Kallikratis reform law text" (PDF).

Sources

• "Skyros – Britannica Concise" (description), Britannica Concise, 2006, webpage: EB-Skyros.

External links

• Skiathos Villas (English)
• Sporades The Official website of the Greek National Tourism Organisation
• Skopelosweb.gr Since 1999 (English) (Greek)
• Alonnisos.net (English) (Greek)
• VivaSporades.com (English) (Greek)
• Love skiathos (English)