Kíthira

Kíthira sĭthērˈə [key], island (1991 pop. 3,021), c.109 sq mi (282 sq km), S Greece, in the Mediterranean Sea, southernmost of the Ionian Islands, off the S Peloponnesus. Mostly rocky with many streams, it produces wine, goat cheese, olives, corn, and flax. On the south shore is Kíthira (1991 pop. 226), the chief village, formerly called Kapsali. Ancient Kíthira was a center of the cult of Aphrodite. The island passed to Greece from Great Britain in 1864.

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