| Crete Island
Crete is a region of Greece, it is the biggest island, the fifth largest in the Mediterranean, and the most southern one, except for the little island of Gavdos.
Description: Crete is 260 km (160 miles) long and 56 km (35 miles) at its widest point. The area is 8,260 sq km (3,190 sq mi).
Population: the population of Crete is close to 600,000.
Crete Airports: There are five airports in Crete but only three of them are used for passenger flights: the Heraklion airport, the Akrotiri airport close to Chania and the Sitia airport. The airports of Kastelli and Timbaki are military airports.
Crete Harbours: In Crete there are two main harbours: the Heraklion harbour and the Souda Bay harbour. The harbours in Rethymnon, Agios Nikolaos and Sitia are much smaller. Along the south coast there are various fishing ports.
Crete Mountains: Crete is a mountainous island and the island's history, as well as the personality of its inhabitants was greatly affected by these mountains. In the west there are Lefka Ori (White Mountains): 2453m, in the center there is Mt Idi (Psiloritis): 2456m and in the east there is Mt Dikti: 2148m. Cretan mountains form a continuous chain from one end of the island to the other and they make Crete look much larger than it really is.
Crete Rivers: Rivers in Crete are short and they dry up in the summer months. Rivers which flows year-round are the river at Preveli in southern Rethymnon district and the river at Vrisses in Chania district.
Crete Lakes: the lake of Kournas, a small but beautiful lake with many taverns around it.
Islands: There are several small islands very close to Crete: Gavdos island is the southest border of Europe and it is populated. The islands of Hrissi or Gaidouronissi, Koufonisia, Dia, Paximadia, Gramvoussa are much smaller and not populated. Most of them are popular destinations for one-day cruises from Crete.
The Cyclades island of Santorini or Thira is close to Crete also and there are daily cruises to it too.
Capital City: Heraklio
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