The (Northern) Sporades are an archipelago along the east coast of Greece, northeast of the island of Euboea,"Skyros - Britannica Concise" (description), Britannica Concise, 2006, webpage: EB-Skyros notes "including Skiathos, Skopelos, Skyros, and Alonnisos." in the Aegean Sea. They consist of 24 islands, four of which are permanently inhabited: Alonnisos, Skiathos, Skopelos and Skyros. They may also be referred to as the Thessalian Sporades ().
Etymology "Sporades" means "those scattered" (compare with "sporadic").Pomponius Mela, Chorographia, 2.111 From Classical Antiquity the name has referred to the Aegean island groups outside the central archipelago of the Cyclades.
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: Skopelos Alonnisos Skiathos Skyros Kyra Panagia Peristera Gioura Skantzoura Piperi Tsougria Saronic Islands or Western Sporades(): Salamis, Aigina, Poros, Hydra, Spetses, and the other islands of the Saronic Gulf and the Myrtoan Sea. Southern Sporades (), i.e. the Dodecanese, to which group Samos and Ikaria are sometimes appended. Eastern Sporades or Anatolic Sporades (), i.e. the islands of the eastern and northeastern Aegean, near the coast of Asia Minor: Samos, Ikaria, Lesbos, Chios, Tenedos, Psara, Oinousses and smaller island groups. Thracian Sporades (): Thasos, Samothrace, Imbros, Lemnos 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 of Thessaly. The regional unit is subdivided into 3 municipalities. These are:
Skiathos (1) Skopelos (3) Alonnisos (2)
The island of Skyros and a few uninhabited islets in its area are part of the Euboea regional unit and the administrative region of Central Greece.
See also List of islands of 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
tr:Ege Adaları#Eğriboz ve Şeytan Adaları (Kuzey Sporatlar, Tesalya Adaları)