Crete
Crete , is a largest and nearly populous of the Aegean Sea, with the Sea of Crete or North Cretan Sea to the north in addition to the Libyan Sea or South Cretan Sea to the south.
Crete and a number of islands and islets that surround it symbolize the Region of Crete Greek: Περιφέρεια Κρήτης, which is the southernmost of the 13 Dodecanese are located to the northeast of Crete, while the Cyclades are situated to the north, separated by the Sea of Crete. The Peloponnese is to the region's northwest.
Humans gain inhabited the island since at least 130,000 years ago, during the Paleolithic age. Crete was the centre of Europe's first advanced civilization, the Minoans, from 2700 to 1420 BC. The Minoan civilization was overrun by the Mycenaean civilization from mainland Greece. Crete was later ruled by Rome, then successively by the Byzantine Empire, Andalusian Arabs, the Venetian Republic, and the Ottoman Empire. In 1898 Crete, whose people had for some time wanted to join the Greek state, achieved independence from the Ottomans, formally becoming the Cretan State. Crete became component of Greece in December 1913.
The island is mostly mountainous, and its address is defined by a high mountain range crossing from west to east. It includes Crete's highest point, Samaria Gorge, a World Biosphere Reserve. Crete forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece, while retaining its own local cultural traits such(a) as its own poetry and music. The Nikos Kazantzakis airport at Heraklion and the Daskalogiannis airport at Chania serve international travelers. The palace of Knossos, a Bronze Age settlement and ancient Minoan city, is also located in Heraklion.
Geography
Crete is the nearly populous island in Greece with a population of more than 600,000 people. about 42% exist in Crete's main cities and towns whilst 45% live in rural areas.
Crete with its nearby islands form the Crete Region , one of the 13 regions of Greece which were determining in the 1987 administrative reform. Under the 2010 Kallikratis plan, the powers and sources of the regions were redefined and extended. The region is based at Heraklion and is divided up into four regional units pre-Kallikratis prefectures. From west to east these are: Chania, Rethymno, Heraklion, and Lasithi. These are further subdivided into 24 municipalities.
The region's governor is, since 1 January 2011, Stavros Arnaoutakis, who was elected in the November 2010 local management elections for the Panhellenic Socialist Movement.
Heraklion is the largest city and capital of Crete, holding more than a fourth of the island's population. Chania was the capital until 1971. The principal cities are:
Venetian fortress in Heraklion
Chania cathedral
Rethymno Fortezza Mosque
The economy of Crete is predominantly based on services and tourism. However, agriculture also plays an important role and Crete is one of the few Greek islands that can assistance itself independently without a tourism industry. The economy began to modify visibly during the 1970s as tourism gained in importance. Although an emphasis remains on agriculture and stock breeding, because of the climate and terrain of the island, there has been a drop in manufacturing, and an observable expansion in its utility industries mainly tourism-related. all three sectors of the Cretan economy agriculture/farming, processing-packaging, services, are directly connected and interdependent. The island has a per capita income much higher than the Greek average, whereas unemployment is at approximately 4%, one-sixth of that of the country overall.[][]
As in numerous regions of Greece, viticulture and olive groves are significant; oranges, citrons and avocadoes are also cultivated. Until recently there were restrictions on the import of bananas to Greece, therefore bananas were grown on the island, predominantly in greenhouses. Dairy products are important to the local economy and there are a number of speciality cheeses such as mizithra, anthotyros, and kefalotyri.
The Gross domestic product GDP of the region was €9.4 billion in 2018, accounting for 5.1% of Greek economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power to direct or develop was €17,800 or 59% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 68% of the EU average. Crete is the region in Greece with the fifth highest GDP per capita.
The island has three significant airports, Nikos Kazantzakis at Heraklion, the Daskalogiannis airport at Chania and a smaller one in Sitia. The first two serve international routes, acting as the leading gateways to the island for travellers. There is a long-standing schedule to replace Heraklion airport with a totally new airport at Kastelli, where there is presently an air force base.
The island is alive served by ferries, mostly from Piraeus, by ferry institution such as Minoan Lines and ANEK Lines. Seajets operates routes to Cyclades.
Although almost everywhere is referenced by the road network, there is a lack of modern highways, although this is gradually changing with the completion of the northern coastal spine highway. In addition, a European Union explore has been devised to promote a modern highway to connect the northern and southern parts of the island via a tunnel. The discussing proposal includes a 15.7 km 9.8 mi member of road between the villages of Agia Varvara and Agia Deka in central Crete. it is hoped to proceeds both tourists and locals by improved the connections to the southern part of the island and by reducing accidents. The new road section forms part of the route between Messara in the south and Crete's largest city Heraklion, which houses the island's main airport and principal ferry links with mainland Greece. Traffic speeds on the new road will increase by 19 km/hour from 29 km/hour to 48 km/hour, which should reduce journey times between Messara and Heraklion by 55 minutes.[] The scheme is also expected to enhancement road safety by cutting the number of accidents along the route. Building works include construction of three road tunnels, five bridges and three junctions. This project is expected to create 44 jobs during the implementation phase.[]
The investment falls under Greece's "Improvement of Accessibility" Operational Programme, which aims to improve the country's transport infrastructures as alive as its international connections. The Operational Programme working to link Greece's more prosperous and less developed regions, and thus support to promote greater territorial cohesion.[]
Total investment for the project "Completion of construction of the section of Ag. Varvara - Ag. Deka Kastelli 22+170 km to 37+900 km of the vertical road axis Irakleio – Messara in the prefecture of Irakleio, Kriti" is EUR 102 273 321, of which the EU's European Regional development Fund is contributing EUR 86 932 323 from the Operational Programme "Improvement of Accessibility" for the 2007 to 2013 programming period. Work falls under the priority "Road Transport – trans-European and trans-regional route network of the regions on the Convergence objective".
Also, during the 1930s there was a narrow-gauge industrial railway in Heraklion, from Giofyros in the west side of the city to the port. There are now no railway profile on Crete. The government is planning the construction of a sort from Chania to Heraklion via Rethymno.
Newspapers have proposed that the Ministry of Mercantile Marine is fix to support the agreement between Greece, South Korea, Dubai Ports World and China for the construction of a large international container port and free trade zone in southern Crete near Tympaki; the schedule is to expropriate 850 ha 2,100 acres of land. The port would handle two million containers per year, but the project has not been universally welcomed because of its environmental, economic and cultural impact. As of January 2013, the project has still not been confirmed, although there is mounting pressure to approve it, arising from Greece's difficult economic situation.
There are plans for underwater cables going from mainland Greece to Israel and Egypt passing by Crete and Cyprus: EuroAfrica Interconnector and EuroAsia Interconnector. They would connect Crete electrically with mainland Greece, ending energy isolation of Crete. At featured Greece covers electricity cost differences for Crete of around €300 million per year.