Corfu - The Information Resource

Welcome to the web site of Corfu :- corfunet.com.

Good information on Corfu has been lacking on the web & hence it was decided to produce this mini-site. It is not a commercial site but has been done purely to pass-on information about the beautiful Island of Corfu.

The name CORFU is an Italian corruption of Korypho, a Byzantine name derived from the two peaks on which the citadel of the chief town hall is built. The ancient name of CORCYRA appears first in Herodotus who also uses a Semitic name - KERKOUROS meaning a fast Phoenician boat of which
probably the Greek version (KERKYRA) derives its name.

Geography
The Ionian Islands take their name from the sea which lies between the tip of Italy and the west coast of Greece. The Ionians in turn took their name from Ion, after the nymph goddess of the sea. These islands are also known as the Eptanisos - The Seven Islands - of which Corfu is the second largest with a length of 40 miles and a width varying between two and a half and eighteen miles. The North East Cape, where you will find the resort town of Kassiopi, is one and a half miles from the Albanian coast. The shape of the island resembles a scythe with a surface area of 588 square miles.

Corfu

Interactive map of Corfu Developed by corfunet.com and used in a number of other sites around the internet this interactive map of Corfu is the best map out there. To view this click here.

Geologically speaking, Corfu is an off-shore peak of ranges belonging to the deformed belt of mountains which run through Yugoslavia and Western Greece. The oldest rocks of the Highlands are the Mesozoic limestone (about 135 million years old) which were crushed against the central core in the Tertiary era (about 75 million years ago) forming marls, silstones, and sandstone areas. The softer deposits have produced some beautiful caves and grottoes of which the best examples are on Paxos, an island south of Corfu.

Population
Corfu is the most densely populated rural area in Greece with 93,000 people and the town of Corfu has 35,000 inhabitants, the majority of which have never left the island.

Economy
Although tourism is a major source of income on the island, its economy is essentially agricultural. Olive oil, wine and currants are the main cash crops. Olives cover over half the cultivated area of Corfu - 3 million trees (encouraged during the Venetian period by giving 12 gold pieces for every 100 olive trees planted). It also has a few valuable acres under tobacco and its flat pasture lands feed enough cows to support a dairy industry which exports butter all over Greece. Sheep and goats are numerous and their milk is made into one of Greece's most famous cheeses - Feta. Salt and fishing play a minor part in the economy of Corfu.

Background Information
We know Corfu well & return every year to Agios Stefanos (Avlioton) to see good friends, family and acquaintancies of previous years. I recommend it to all.

Even though the information is fairly comprehensive more will be added as my time permits.

Webmaster of corfunet.com