The word archipelago originated in the Aegean, defining either an island chain or a sea containing numerous islands. Both definitions sufficiently describe the Aegean islands and sea. Located between the Greek peninsula and Asia Minor, the Aegean contains some 3000 islands stretching from Crete in the south and above the Dardanelles in the north. Regional civilization occurred near to the conclusion of the Stone Age in the 7000s BC according to archaeological findings. Both the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations would arise in this region, and the ensuing Hellenic civilization spread across these islands. Now the island clusters have been categorized in seven groups: the Thracian Sea group, the East Aegean group, the Northern Sporades, the Cyclades, the Saronic Islands, the Dodecanese and Crete.




Archipelago
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Aegean Sea