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.

Capital Cities

Heraklion - Chania - Rethymno - Agios Nikolaos

All informations found at Wikipedia.org