Δωδεκανησα

Dodekánisa - Dodecanese

The name Δωδεκάνησα (Dodekánisa) is translated to twelve islands. The islands are not exactly twelve today, there are 15 big and about 150 small islands belonging to this chain. The islands are Greek, but they are located off the turkish coast, a fact of which Turkey is not amused. Since 1955 the islands have formed the Νομός Δωδεκανήσου (Dodecanese Prefecture), but with the 2011 Kallikratis reform, the prefecture was abolished. The Dodekanese are now part of the South Aegean administrative region. They are also split into four regional units. However, this page is neither a geographical nor a political statement. It is a way to structure the underground sites we list, and this former prefecture is easy to recognize by tourists and has about the right size to be helpful.

Most islands of the Dodekanese are volcanic, and as a result, they have significant amounts of mineral resources. But there are also sedimentary resources. Rhodes has gypsum, chromite and lignite, Kos has copper, iron, lead and lignite, Nisyros has sulfur and Karpathos and Kassos have gypsum. A few islands have carbonate rocks, and thus there are a big number of caves on the islands. The most extensive karst is on Kalymnos. But while there are cave and cave churches, there is no show cave on any island.