Dodecanese Symi, Tilos, and Kastellorizo. Other islands in the chain include Alimia, Arkoi, Chalki, Farmakonisi, Gyali, Kinaros, Levitha, Marathos, Nimos, Pserimos, Saria, Strongyli, Syrna and Telendos. The name "Dodecanese" (older form ἡ Δωδεκάνησος, "hē Dōdekanēsos"; modern τα Δωδεκάνησα, "ta Dōdekanēsa"), meaning "The Twelve Islands", denotes today an island group in the southeastern Aegean Sea, comprising fifteen major islands (Agathonisi, Astypalaia, Chalki, Kalymnos, Karpathos, Kasos, Kastellorizo, Kos, Lipsi, Leros, Nisyros, Patmos, Rhodes, Symi, and Tilos) and 93 smaller islets. Since Antiquity, these islands formed part of the group known as the "Southern Sporades" (Νότιες Σποράδες). The name "Dōdekanēsos" first appears in Byzantine
Lakki, Leros Lakki, Leros Lakki (), population 1990, formerly Portolago (Πόρτο Λάγο), is a community on the Greek island of Leros, in the Dodecanese, at the head of Lakki Bay. The area was built up as the main base of the Italian Royal Navy in the Dodecanese starting in 1923. The town of Portolago was founded in the 1930s, under Italian rule, as a new model town, most of whose inhabitants were from the Italian military. After Leros was transferred to Greece in 1947, it was renamed Lakki. Like the rest of the Dodecanese, Leros was ruled by Italy from 1912-1943. The