Santorini is an island located in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km (120 mi) southeast from Greece's main land.It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago which bears the same name and is the remnant of a volcanic caldera.
It forms the southernmost member of the Cyclades group of islands, with an area of approximately 73 km2 (28 sq mi) and a 2001 census population of 13,670.
The municipality of Thera includes an additional 12 local subdivisions on Santorini island: Akrotiri, Emporio, Episkopis Gonia, Exo Gonia, Imerovigli, Karterakos, Megalohori, Mesaria, Pyrgos Kallistis, Thera (the seat of the municipality), Vothon, and Vourvoulos.
It is the most active volcanic center in the South Aegean Volcanic Arc, though what remains today is chiefly a water-filled caldera.
The region first became volcanically active around 3–4 million years ago.
Santorini is essentially what remains after an enormous volcanic explosion that destroyed the earliest settlements, on a formerly single island, and created the current geological caldera. A giant central, rectangular lagoon, which measures about 12 by 7 km (7.5 by 4.3 mi), is surrounded by 300 m (980 ft) high, steep cliffs on three sides. The main island slopes downward to the Aegean Sea.
The water in the center of the lagoon is nearly 400 m (1,300 ft) deep, thus making it a safe harbor for all kinds of shipping. The island's harbors all lie in the lagoon, and there are no ports on the perimeter of the island; the capital, Fira, clings to the top of the cliff looking down on the lagoon.
The volcanic rocks present from the prior eruptions feature olivine and have a notably small presence of hornblende.
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