Area 275.7 km² | Population 13,798 (2011) | |
![]() | ||
Islands Points of interest Archaeological Museum of Skyros, Paralia Lalaria, Lalaria beach, Koukounaries Beach, Kastani Beach |
The (Northern) Sporades (/ˈspɒrədiːz/; Greek: Βόρειες Σποράδες) are an archipelago along the east coast of Greece, northeast of the island of Euboea, in the Aegean Sea. They consists of 24 islands, four of which are permanently inhabited: Alonnisos, Skiathos, Skopelos and Skyros. They may also be referred to as the Thessalian Sporades (Θεσσαλικές Σποράδες).
Contents
Map of Sporades, Skopelos 370 03, Greece
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:
Administration
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:
The island of Skyros with a few uninhabited islets of its area is part of the regional unit of Euboea and the administrative region of Central Greece.