Greece

° Athens ° Piraeus  ° Aegean Islands: Lesbos, Samos 
° Argo-Saronic: Hydra  ° Crete: Agios Nikolaos, Heraklion, Samara 
° Cyclades: Folegandros, Mykonos, Paros, Santorini 
° Dodecanese Islands: Rhodes  ° Euboea Islands ° Iraklion ° Katakolon 
° Ionian Islands: Corfu, Zakynthos ° Piraeus °  Santorini  ° Sporades: Skiathos

Ionian Islands

The seven main islands of the Ionian Islands are Corfu, Paxos, Lefkada, Ithaca, Kefalonia, Zakynthos and Kythira.

Of course there is a myth explaining how the Ionian Sea and these islands got their name: Io was a maiden pursued by Zeus who transformed her into a cow to hide her from the jealous Hera. But Hera was not fooled and asked for the cow as a gift which Zeus could not refuse her. To keep her from Zeus, Hera placed Io under the watchful 100 eyes of Argus. But Io was rescued by Hermes. Not to be deterred, Hera sent a gadfly to sting Io wherever she went. To escape this torment, Io supposedly leaped into the sea that now bears her name.

Zakynthos (Zante) was inhabited from the Neolithic Times. The famous ancient Greek poet and writer, Homer, first mentioned the island in the Iliad and the Odyssey, stating that the first inhabitants of it were the son of King Dardanos of Troy called Zakynthos and his men and that they first came on the island around 1500-1600 BC.

Because of its strategic location in the Ionian Sea, the island has been invaded throughout history:

• King Arkeisios was follows by Ulysses (Odysseus in Greek) from Ithaca;
• Independent for 650 years and remained neutral during the Peloponnesian War in the 5th Century;
• After the Macedonian Wars, Zakynthos fell under Macedonian rule and was later occupied by Romans, during which time she paid taxes to the Romans, but established their own laws and their own municipality, parliament and coins;
• During the 15th Century, when the rest of Greece was under Turkish rule, the Ionian Islands were under Venetian rule; through this time, arts were developed;
• The French Republicans arrived in 1797 promising to change the system . . . the English followed and remained from 1814 to 1864 during which time they developed public administration and public works.

June 8, 1834, The Age London, Middlesex, United Kingdom

Nugent has made a pretty mess of the Ionian Islands. Their Parliament has been dissolved by an Order of Council from London this being: the first time since their connexion with England that such an event has occurred. His Excellency has, in fact, created by his Radical politics and his Proclamations, a faction hostile to England in the Islands, which he is now unable to master. Like his employers at home, he employed the language of Radicalism as far as it suited his own views, thinking he could check its career when he pleaded; and, like Lord Grey and Co., he has been much disappointed. A body ofRepealers has sprung up in the Ionian Parliament; and, to use the language of a communication from Corfu,

"The connection with England, formerly a blessing, was now considered as a burden, and the efforts of the Parliament henceforward leaded to withdraw from the influence of England, and te obtain an independence, as incompatible with the true interest of the Ionian islands as with that of England."

"Several innovations in this spirit were introduced various sources of the revenue of the islands were dried up instances of injustice in the distribution of offices, &c. became more frequent at length troubles broke out, and they still burn under the ashes. These were the immediate consequences of the unsteady impractical Administrat i o n of Lord Nugent, which depended on the intrigues of a few individuals, to the injury of the public good. That suck seeds can produce only such fruits is a truth against which, though it has been proved a thousand times over, the spirit of revolution still contends, and the fatal experiment has always to be repeated. It has been tried here. Lord Nugent appears to have become suddenly sensible of this truth, for nobody doubts that he has himself asked for the Order in Council, as the only means of getting rid of the Parliament. He saw that he could no longer carry the measures of the English Government against the opposition. He was, too, abandoned by those who deceived him with flattery when he first came."

Is not this a fine pass to which the representative of the King of England has brought the state committed to his charge? Under the old system his Lordship would have been deservedly impeached; as it is, he must be instantly recalled. It was a great shame that he was ever sent to the Ionian Islands; but we hope his fate will act as a warning to all popularity-hunting governors. They will find, like him, that they will endanger the interests of their country, and meet with nothing but contempt and odium from all parties in the end.

Zakkynthos and other Ionian Islands were integrated to the Greek State in 1864.

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1899. World's Fleet. Boston Daily Globe

Lloyds Register of Shipping gives the entire fleet of the world as 28,180 steamers and sailing vessels, with a total tonnage of 27,673,628, of which 39 perent are British.

Great Britain	10,990 vessels, total tonnage of 10,792,714
United States	3,010 vessels, total tonnage of 2,405,887
Norway	2,528 vessels, tonnage of 1,604,230
Germany	1,676 vessels, with a tonnage of 2,453,334, in which are included her particularly large ships.
Sweden	1,408 vessels with a tonnage of 643, 527
Italy	1,150 vessels
France	1,182 vessels

For Historical Comparison
Top 10 Maritime Nations Ranked by Value (2017)

	Country	# of Vessels	Gross Tonnage (m)	Total Value (USDbn)
1	Greece	4,453	206.47	$88.0
2	Japan	4,317	150.26	$79.8
3	China	4,938	159.71	$71.7
4	USA	2,399	55.92	$46.5
5	Singapore	2,662	64.03	$41.7
6	Norway	1,668	39.68	$41.1
7	Germany	2,923	81.17	$30.3
8	UK	883	28.78	$24.3
9	Denmark	1,040	36.17	$23.4
10	South Korea	1,484	49.88	$20.1
Total		26,767	87.21	$466.9