Euboea
Greek island
Euboea, also known as Evia, is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete, and the sixth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait (only 40 m (130 ft) at its narrowest point), the North Euboean Gulf, and the South Euboean Gulf. In general outline it is a long and narrow island; it is about 180 km (110 mi) long, and varies in breadth from 50 km (31 mi) to 6 km (3.7 mi). Its geographic orientation is from northwest to southeast, and it is traversed throughout its length by a mountain range, which forms part of the chain that bounds Thessaly on the east, and is continued south of Euboia in the lofty islands of Andros, Tinos and Mykonos.
It forms most of the regional unit of Euboea, which also includes Skyros and a small area of the Greek mainland.
Name
Like most of the Greek islands, Euboea was known by other names in antiquity, such as Macris (Μάκρις) and Doliche (Δολίχη) from its elongated shape, or Ellopia (after Ellops the son of Ion), Aonia and Abantis from the tribes inhabiting it, or Ocha/Oche (Ὄχη), which is also the name of one of the highest mountains on the island. The name Euboea (Εὔβοια) derives from the words εὖ 'good', and βοῦς 'ox', meaning '(the land of) the well(-fed) oxen'. Strabo writes that it took the name Euboea either from the heroine Euboea or because of a cave on the island at the Aegaean coast which was called Boösaule (βοὸς αὐλὴ, meaning 'cow's stall'), where Io was said to have given birth to Epaphus.
In the Middle Ages, the island was often referred to by Byzantine authors as Chalcis (Χαλκίς), the name of its capital, or Euripos (Εὔριπος), the name of the strait that separates the island from the Greek mainland; but the ancient name Euboea remained in use by classicizing authors until the 16th century.
The phrase στὸν Εὔριπον 'to Evripos', rebracketed as στὸ Νεὔριπον 'to Nevripos', became Negroponte ('Black Bridge') in Italian by folk etymology, the ponte 'bridge' being interpreted as the bridge of Chalcis.
The public source identifies “Euboea” as greek island. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Euboea, Greek and island.
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Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q173096. VIAF identifies the subject as 242066094. Authority coordinates are 38.500, 24.000. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Euboea” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.