Samos
Samos, a Greek island of the Sporades group in the Aegean Sea just off the coast of Turkey. The area is some 180 square miles (466 km2). Samos is noted for its ruins from the sixth century B.C. They include a shrine to Hera, one of the largest temples in the Aegean world; a great mole (breakwater) that protected the harbor; and a tunnel that carried water to the chief city, also called Samos. Samos' economy is based on wine making, agriculture, and the tourist trade.
Samos was colonized by Ionian Greeks about the 11th century B.C. Its culture and commerce reached their peak in the sixth century B.C. during the reign of the tyrant Polycrates. Among the several powers that ruled Samos in later periods were the Persian, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires. Samos was returned to Greek control in 1912.
Population: 41,850.