This article is about the group of islands west of Greece. For the ancient region in western Anatolia, see Ionia.

The Ionian Islands (Modern Greek: Ionioi Nisoi, Ιόνιοι Νήσοι; Ancient Greek: Ionioi Nesoi, Ιόνιοι Νήσοι) are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called the Seven Islands (in Modern Greek Eptanisa, Επτάνησα), but the group includes many smaller islands as well as the seven principal ones. The seven are, from north to south:

• Kerkyra (Κέρκυρα) usually known as Corfu in English
• Paxi (Παξοί) also known as Paxos in English
• Lefkada (Λευκάδα) also known as Lefkas in English
• Ithaki (Ιθάκη) usually known as Ithaca in English
• Kefallonia (Κεφαλλονιά) often known as Kefalonia/Cephalonia/Kefallinia in English
• Zakynthos (Ζάκυνθος) sometimes known as Zante in English
• Kythira (Κύθηρα) sometimes known as Cerigo in English

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 Peloponnesus, the southern part of the Greek mainland. It should be noted that Kythira is not part of the periphery of Ionian Islands (Ionioi Nisoi), as it is included in the periphery of Attiki.

Latin transliteration, as well as Modern Greek pronunciation, may suggest that the Ionian Sea and Islands are somehow related to Ionia, an eastern Greek region. Note however that the Ionian Sea and Ionian Islands are spelt with an omicron (Ιόνια), whereas Ionia has an omega (Ιωνία). In Modern Greek this is purely a spelling distinction, but the different pronunciations in Ancient Greek would have eliminated the risk of confusion between the two areas. Furthermore in both Ancient Greek and Modern Greek, the Ionian is accented in the antepenult (i-O-nia) whereas Ionia in the penult (ion-I-a); also the proper adjective for Ionia is Ionic, not Ionian.

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BBC News | Europe | World Edition

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NYT > Europe

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L.A. Times - Europe

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UN News Centre - Europe

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Europe - International Herald Tribune

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