Astypálea

Astypalaia (Greek: Αστυπάλαια, pronounced [astiˈpalea]), called in Italian Stampalia and in Ottoman Turkish İstanbulya (استانبوليه), is a Greek island with 1,334 residents (2011 census). It belongs to the Dodecanese, an island group of twelve major islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea. The island is 18 km. long, 13 km. wide at the most, and covers an area of 97 km². Along with numerous smaller uninhabited offshore islets (the largest of which are Sýrna and Ofidoussa), it forms the Municipality of Astypalaia. Astypalaia is part of the Kalymnos regional unit.

Greece (Greek: Ελλάδα [eˈlaða] Elláda), officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία [eliniˈci ðimokraˈti.a] Ellīnikī́ Dīmokratía), is a country in Southeast Europe. According to the 2011 census, Greece's population is around 11 million. Athens is the nation's capital and largest city, its urban area also including Piraeus.

Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, and has land borders with Albania, Skopje and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of mainland Greece, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km (8,498 mi) in length, featuring a vast number of islands (approximately 1,400, of which 227 are inhabited), including Crete, the Dodecanese, the Cyclades, and the Ionian Islands among others. Eighty percent of Greece consists of mountains, of which Mount Olympus is the highest at 2,917 m (9,570 ft).

The Dodecanese (/doʊdɪkəˈniːz/; Greek: Δωδεκάνησα, Dodekánisa, [ðoðeˈkanisa]; literally 'twelve islands') are a group of 12 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, of which 26 are inhabited. Τhis island group generally defines the eastern limit of the Sea of Crete. They belong to the Southern Sporades island group. They have a rich history, and many of even the smallest inhabited islands boast dozens of Byzantine churches and medieval castles.