Crete

Population: 623,666
(2005)
 
Area: 8,336 km² (3,219 sq.mi.)
Crete (Greek: Κρήτη, transliteration: Krētē, modern transliteration Kriti) is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km² (3,219 square miles).

Crete was the center of the Minoan civilization (ca. 2600–1400 BC), the oldest Greek and European civilization.

Today Crete is one of the thirteen peripheries of Greece and a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece. While it keeps its own local cultural traits (e.g. its own music and dialect), Cretans openly identify themselves as Greeks.