The island
Crete is one
of the 13 regions into which Greece is
divided. It is the largest island in
Greece and the second largest (after
Cyprus) in the East Mediterranean. Crete
has an elongated shape - 260 km from east
to west and 60 km at its widest, although
the island is narrower at certain points,
such as in the region close to Ierapetra
where it has a width of only 12 km. It
covers an area of 8,336 km? and has a
coastline of 1046 km. To the north Crete
borders with the Sea of Crete, to the
south it is bordered by the Libyan Sea,
to the west the Myrtoon Sea, to the east
the Karpathion Sea. Its population is
650,000 people (as of 2005). The island
lies approximately 160 km south of the
Greek mainland.
Crete is extremely mountainous and is
defined by a high mountain range crossing
it from West to East, formed by three
different groups of mountains. These
are:
-
the
White Mountains or Lefka Ori (2,452
m);
-
the Idi
range (Psiloritis (35.18° N
24.82° E) 2,456 m);
-
the
Dikti mountains (2,148 m);
-
Kedros
(1,777 m);
-
Thripti (1,489 m);
These
mountains gifted Crete with fertile
plateaus like Lasithi, Omalos and Nidha,
caves like Diktaion and Idaion cave, and
gorges like the famous Gorge of Samaria.
The protected area of the Samaria Gorge
is the home of kri-kri. Cretan mountains
and gorges are refuges of the endangered
vulture Lammergeier (Gypaetus
barbatus).
Crete straddles two climatic zones, the
Mediterranean and the North African,
mainly falling within the former. As
such, the climate in Crete is primarily
temperate. The atmosphere can be quite
humid, depending on the proximity to the
sea. The winter is fairly mild. Snowfall
is common on the mountains between
November and May, but rare at the low
lying areas - especially near the coast
when it only stays on the ground for a
few minutes/hours. However, a truly
exceptional cold snap happened in
February 2004, during which the whole
island was blanketed with snow. During
summer, average temperatures are in the
high 20s-low 30s (Celsius), with maxima
in the upper 30s to mid 40s.
The south coast, including the Messara
plain and Asterousia mountains, falls in
the North African climatic zone and thus
enjoys significantly more sunny days and
high temperatures throughout the year;
consequently in southern Crete date palms
bear fruit and swallows stay year-long,
instead of migrating to Africa.
The economy of Crete, which was mainly
based on farming, started changing
visibly during the 1970s. While an
emphasis remains on farming and stock
breeding, due to the climate and the
terrain of the island, there has been a
drop in manufacturing and an observable
expansion in its service industries
(mainly tourism-related). All three
sectors of the Cretan economy
(agriculture, processing-packaging,
services), are directly connected and
interdependent. The island has a per
capita income close to 100% of the Greek
average, while unemployment is at
approximately 4%, half of that of the
country overall. As in other regions of
Greece, olive growing is also a
significant industry. Also a small amount
of citrons is still cultivated on the
island.
The island has three significant
airports, Nikos Kazantzakis at Heraklion,
the Daskalogiannis airport at Chania and
a smaller in Sitia. The first two serve
international routes as the main gateways
to the island for travellers.
Crete is one of the most popular holiday
destinations in Greece. Fifteen percent
of all arrivals in Greece come through
the city of Heraklion (port and airport),
while charter flights to Iraklion were
last year 20% of the total of charter
flights in Greece. In sum more than two
million tourists visited Crete last year.
This increase in tourism is reflected on
the number of hotel beds, which increased
in Crete by 53% from 1986 to 1991 while
in the rest of Greece the increase was
25%. Today the tourism infrastructure in
Crete caters to all tastes. There is
accommodation of every possible category,
from large luxury hotels with all the
facilities (swimming pools, sports and
recreation facilities etc.), to smaller
family owned apartments, to camping
facilities. Visitors can arrive at the
island through two international airports
in Heraklion and Hania, or by boat to the
ports of Heraklion, Hania, Rethimno and
Agios Nikolaos.
All information's found
at Wikipedia
|
Crete maps and general
info
Heraklion
