Ionian University 1864, up to the Union of the Ionian Islands with the Greek State. Τhe Ionian University was established in 1984 by the Greek government under the Prime Ministership of Andreas Papandreou in recognition of Corfu's contribution to education in Greece as the seat of the first University of Greece, the Ionian Academy, that was established in 1824, forty years before the cession of the Ionian islands to Greece and just three years after Greece's Revolution of 1821. The Prime Ministership thus kept an election promise to the people of Corfu, satisfying their long held demand that a successor university to
Venetian rule in the Ionian Islands of the Republic is deeply rooted in the population, who recall it with a shade of nostalgia even after so much time and so many events. Because of the long Venetian period, the manners and traditions of the inhabitants of the Ionian Islands are a mixture of Greek and Italian. The Venetian influence is illustrated in all aspects of culture and everyday life. In 1800 the Septinsular Republic was established; its flag design was based on the flag of the Republic of Venice. In addition, Italian was the co-official language of both the Septinsular Republic and the United States of