Crete (Greek: Κρήτη, Kriti or occasionally Krētē) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km2 (3,219 sq mi). Crete is one of the 13 peripheries of Greece and covers the same area as the Greek region of Crete from before the 1987 administrative reform.   It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece; while it retains its own local cultural traits (such as its own music and dialect), Cretans identify themselves as Greeks. Heraklion is the largest city and capital of Crete.

Crete was the center of the Minoan civilization (circa 2700–1420 BCE), the first advanced civilization in Europe.

Names

In Classical Latin, the island was known as Creta; in Turkish, Girit.

Following its occupation by Venice, Crete was long known in the West as Candia (sometimes Anglicized as Candy), from the Italian form of Heraklion's medieval name, Χάνδαξ (Chandax.)

History
Main article: History of Crete
Heraklion Archaeological Museum.Minoan rhyton in form of a bull.

The first human settlements on the island, dating to the aceramic Neolithic, used cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and dogs as well as domesticated cereals and legumes; ancient Knossos was the site of one of these major Neolithic (then later Minoan) sites. Crete was the center of Europe's first advanced civilization, the Minoan (c. 2700-1420 BC).  This civilization wrote in the undeciphered script known as Linear A. Early Cretan history is replete with legends such as those of King Minos, Theseus, Minotaur, Daedalus and Icarus passed on orally via poets such as Homer. Beginning in 1420 BC, the Minoan civilization was overrun by the Mycenean civilization from mainland Greece. The oldest samples of writing in the Greek language is the Linear B archive from Knossos, dated approximately to 1425-1375 BC.

Crete was involved in the Mithridatic Wars, initially repelling an attack by Roman general Marcus Antonius Creticus in 71 BCE. Nevertheless, a ferocious three-year campaign soon followed under Quintus Caecilius Metellus, equipped with three legions and Crete was finally conquered by Rome in 69 BCE, earning for Metellus the title "Creticus". Gortyn was made capital of the island, and Crete became a Roman province, along with Cyrenaica.

Crete was part of the Byzantine Empire, but then was captured by Iberian Muslims led by Abu Hafs who established a piratical emirate on the island. In 960, Nicephorus Phocas reconquered the island, which remained under Byzantine control until 1204, when it fell into the hands of the Venetians at the time of the Fourth Crusade. During Venice's rule, which lasted more than four centuries, a Renaissance swept through the island as is evident from the plethora of artistic works dating to that period. The most notable representatives of this Cretan renaissance were the painter El Greco and the writers Nicholas Kalliakis (1645–1707) and Vitsentzos Kornaros.

The Black Death of 1348 hit Crete particularly hard. Plagues followed in 1398, 1419, 1456, 1523, 1580, 1592, 1678, 1689, 1703 and 1816, and some of these were credited with killing ⅓ of the population. Many Cretans migrated overseas during difficult periods on the island, some even seeking great fortune abroad, such as Constantine Corniaktos (c. 1517-1603) who became one of the richest people in Eastern Europe.

Under the rule of Christian Venetians, the city of Candia was reputed to be the best fortified city of the Eastern Mediterranean. In 1492, Jews expelled from Spain settled on the island. In 1627, there were 800 Jews in the city of Candia, about seven percent of the city's population. In 1574–77, Crete was under the rule of Giacomo Foscarini as Proveditor General, Sindace and Inquistor. According to Starr (1942), the rule of Giacomo Foscarini was the dark age for Jews and Greeks. Under his rule, non-Catholics had to pay high taxes with no allowances. This practice ended when the Ottomans conquered Crete in 1669, after a 21-year siege of the capital, Candia.

During Ottoman rule, many churches and monasteries were converted to mosques. However, limited freedoms and rights were still provided. Church attendance was permitted. Still, many Christians converted to Islam. The city was surrounded by high walls and bastions and extended westward and southward by the 17th century. The most opulent area of the city was the northeastern quadrant where all the elite were gathered together. The city had received another name under the rule of the Ottomans, the deserted city. The urban policy that the Ottoman applied to Candia was a two-pronged approach. The first was the religious endowments. It made the Ottoman elite contribute to building and rehabilitating the ruined city. The other method was to boost the population and the urban revenue by selling off urban properties. According to Molly Greene (2001) there were numerous records of real-estate transactions during the Ottoman rule. In the deserted city, minorities received equal rights in purchasing property. Christians and Jews were also able to buy and sell in the real-estate market.

Muslim presence on the island started with the Arab occupation but was cemented by the Ottoman conquest. Most Cretan Muslims were local Greek converts who spoke Cretan Greek, but in the island's 19th century political context they came to be viewed by the Christian population as Turks. Contemporary estimates vary, but on the eve of the Greek War of Independence, as much as 45% of the population of the island may have been Muslim. A number of Sufi orders were widespread throughout the island, the Bektashi order being the most prevalent, possessing at least five tekkes. Many amongst them were crypto-Christians who converted back to Christianity in subsequent years, while many others fled Crete because of the unrest, settling in Turkey, Rhodes, Syria and elsewhere. By 1900, 11% of the population was Muslim. Those remaining were forced to leave in 1924 in the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey.
Historical map of Crete (1719).

Uprisings by Christians were met with a fierce response from the Ottoman authorities who executed bishops, regarded as ringleaders on several occasions.  Crete was left out of the modern Greek state by the London Protocol of 1830, and soon it was yielded to Egypt by the Ottoman sultan. Egyptian rule was short-lived and sovereignty was returned to the Ottoman Empire by the Convention of London on July 3, 1840.

Between 1833 and 1897, several more Christian uprisings took place, and in 1898, Crete, a complex autonomous Cretan State under Ottoman suzerainty, was nevertheless garrisoned by an international military force, with a High Commissioner (Armostis), chosen by Greece[citation needed]. Finally, Crete was joined with Greece on 1 December 1913.

During World War II, the island was the scene of the famous Battle of Crete where, in May 1941, German paratroopers sustained almost 7,000 casualties, meeting fierce resistance from both locals and the British Commonwealth force, commanded by General Sir Bernard Freyberg. As a result, Adolf Hitler forbade further large scale airborne operations.

Geography
Crete, with a population of 650,000 in year 2005, is one of the 13 regions into which Greece is divided. It forms the largest island in Greece and the second largest (after Cyprus) in the eastern Mediterranean. The island has an elongated shape: it spans 260 km (160 mi) from east to west, is 60 km (37 mi) at its widest point, and narrows to as little as 12 km (7.5 mi) (close to Ierapetra). Crete covers an area of 8,336 km2 (3,219 sq mi), with a coastline of 1,046 km (650 mi); to the north, it broaches the Sea of Crete (Greek: Κρητικό Πέλαγος); to the south, the Libyan Sea (Greek: Λιβυκό Πέλαγος); in the west, the Myrtoan Sea, and toward the east the Karpathion Sea. It lies approximately 160 km (99 mi) south of the Greek mainland.

Crete is extremely mountainous, and its character is defined by a high mountain range crossing from west to east, formed by three different groups of mountains. These are:

* the White Mountains or Lefka Ori (2,452 m (8,045 ft));
* the Idi Range (Psiloritis (35°11′N 24°49′E / 35.18°N 24.82°E / 35.18; 24.82) 2,456 m (8,058 ft));
* the Dikti Mountains (2,148 m (7,047 ft));
* Kedros (1,777 m (5,830 ft));
* Thripti (1,489 m (4,885 ft))

These mountains gifted Crete with fertile plateaux, such as Lasithi, Omalos and Nidha; caves, such as Diktaion and Idaion; and gorges, such as the famous gorge of Samaria. The protected area of the Samaria Gorge is the home of kri-kri, while Cretan mountains and gorges are refuges for the endangered vulture Lammergeier (Gypaetus barbatus).

There are a number of rivers on Crete, including the Ieropotamos River on the southern part of the island.

Cities
Crete's principal cities are:

* Heraklion (Iraklion or Candia) (137,711 inhabitants)
* Chania (Haniá) (53,373 inhabitants)
* Rethymno (31,687 inhabitants)
* Ierapetra (23,707 inhabitants)
* Agios Nikolaos (19,462 inhabitants)
* Sitia (14,338 inhabitants)

Culture

Crete has been able to preserve much of its culture. Cretan Greek has been maintained as the spoken dialect, and Cretan wine and tsikoudia, a potent distillate, are the traditional drinks. The island is known for its music (typically performed with the lyre) and has many indigenous dances, the most noted of which is probably the Pentozali. Cretan authors have made important contributions to Greek Literature throughout the modern period; major names include Vikentios Kornaros, creator of the 17th century epic romance Erotokritos (Greek Ερωτόκριτος), and in the 20th century Nikos Kazantzakis. In the Renaissance, Crete was the home of the Cretan School of icon painting, which influenced El Greco and through him subsequent European painting.

Tourism

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 journeys to Heraklion last year made up 20% of all charter flights in Greece. Overall, more than two million tourists visited Crete last year, and this increase in tourism is reflected on the number of hotel beds, rising by 53% in the period between 1986 and 1991, when the rest of Greece saw increases of only 25%. Today, the island's tourism infrastructure caters to all tastes, including a very wide range of accommodation; the island's facilities take in large luxury hotels with their complete facilities, swimming pools, sports and recreation, smaller family-owned apartments, camping facilities and others. Visitors reach the island via two international airports in Heraklion and Chania, or by boat to the main ports of Heraklion, Chania, Rethimno and Agios Nikolaos. Some of the most famous tourist attractions include the Minoan sites of Knossos and Phaistos, the classical site of Gortys, the Venetian old city and port of Chania, the Venetian castle at Rethymno and the Samaria Gorge.

Plans for a container port

Newspapers have reported that the Ministry of Mercantile Marine is ready to support the agreement between Greece, South Korea, Dubai Ports World and China for the construction of a large international container port and free trade zone in southern Crete near Tympaki; the plan is to expropriate 850 ha of land. The port would handle 2 million containers per year, while as of 2007, there has been no official announcement of a project not universally welcomed due to its environmental, economic and cultural impact.[18] As of January 2009, it appears the project has been canceled, in part due to the strong opposition from the local population, mostly on environmental grounds.
Cretans are fiercely proud of their island and customs, and men often don elements of their traditional dress in everyday life: knee-high black riding boots, black shirts and black headdress consisting of a fishnet-weave kerchief worn wrapped around the head or draped on the shoulders. On festive occasions all that is normally worn black is then worn white.