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Ionian Islands Region

Περιφέρεια Ιονίων Νήσων
Ionian Islands Region Περιφέρεια Ιονίων Νήσων
Administrative region
	Logo
	Coordinates: 38°42′N 20°18′E / 38.7°N 20.3°E
Country	Greece
Decentralized Administration	Peloponnese, Western Greece and the Ionian
Capital	Corfu
Regional units	List Corfu; Ithaca; Kefalonia; Lefkada; Zakynthos;
Government
• Regional Governor	Giannis Trepeklis [el] (Independent)
Area
• Total	2,306.94 km2 (890.71 sq mi)
Population (2021)
• Total	204,532
• Density	89/km2 (230/sq mi)
Demonym	Heptanesian
GDP
• Total	€3.056 billion (2021)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
ISO 3166 code	GR-F
HDI (2022)	0.872; very high · 8th of 13
Website	www.pin.gov.gr

The Ionian Islands Region (/aɪˈoʊniən/ eye-OH-nee-ən; Greek: Περιφέρεια Ιονίων Νήσων, romanized: Periféria Ioníon Níson, [periˈferia ioˈnion ˈnison]) is the smallest by area of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece located in the Ionian Sea. It comprises all the Ionian Islands except Kythera, which, although historically part of the island group, was separated and integrated to the Attica Region.

Demographics

The population of the Ionian Islands in 2011 was 207,855, decreased by 1.5% compared to the population in 2001.^[4] Nevertheless, the region remains the third by population density with 90.1/km² nationwide, well above the national of 81.96/km². The most populous of the major islands is Corfu with a population of 104,371, followed by Zante (40,759), Cephalonia (35,801), Leucas (23,693) and Ithaca (3,231). In 2001, the foreign-born population was 19,360 or 9.3%, the majority of which was concentrated in Corfu and Zante. Most of them originate from Albania (13,536). The fertility rate for 2011 according to Eurostat was 1.35 live births per woman.^[5]

Economy

The regional gross domestic product for 2010 was 4,029 million euros. The GDP per capita for the same year was 18,440 euros per capita which was lower than the national median of 20,481. However, the GDP per capita of Cephalonia and Zante, 23,275 and 24,616 respectively, was much higher than the national figure.^[6] Additionally, unemployment for 2012 was 14.7, the lowest among all Greek regions, and much lower compared to the national unemployment of 24.2.^[7]

Tourism

The region is a popular tourist destination. The airports of Corfu, Zante and Cephalonia were in the top ten in Greece by number of international arrivals, with 1,386,289 international arrivals for 2012, with Corfu being the sixth airport by number of arrivals nationwide, while Zante and Cephalonia also being in the top ten. Cephalonia Airport had the biggest increase nationwide by 13.11% compared to 2011, while Corfu had an increase of 6.31%.^[8]^[9]

Administration

The region was established in the 1987 administrative reform, comprising the prefectures of Corfu, Kefalonia and Ithaca, Lefkada and Zakynthos.

With the 2010 Kallikratis plan, its powers and authority were redefined and extended. Along with West Greece and Peloponnese regions, it is supervised by the Decentralized Administration of the Peloponnese, West Greece and the Ionian Islands based at Patras. The region is based at Corfu and is divided into 5 regional units:^[10]

Corfu (Kerkyra)
Ithaca (Ithaki)
Kefalonia
Lefkada
Zakynthos

Historical population

Year	Population	Density
1862	228,631	87.8/km²
1864	229,516
1879	244,433	106.0/km²
1889	238,783
1896	282,853
1907	254,494
1920	224,189	97.1/km²
1928	213,157	92.4/km²
1940	219,562	95.1/km²
1951	228,597	99.0/km²
1961	207,061	89.7/km²
1971	184,443
1981	182,651	79.1/km²
1991	193,734	83.9/km²
2001	212,984	92.3/km²
2011	207,855	90/km²
2021	200,726
Sources:^[11]^[12]^[13]^[14]^[15]^[16]^[1]