Corfu Corfu Corfu or Kerkyra (; , ; , ; ; ) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the northwesternmost part of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality, which also includes the smaller islands of Ereikoussa, Mathraki and Othonoi. The municipality has an area of 610,9 km, the island proper 592,8 km. The principal city of the island and seat of the municipality (pop. 32,095) is also named Corfu. Corfu is home
Mediterranean Sea when Augustus founded the Roman Empire, the Romans referred to the Mediterranean as "Mare Nostrum" ("Our Sea"). For the next 400 years, the Roman Empire completely controlled the Mediterranean Sea and virtually all its coastal regions from Gibraltar to the Levant. Darius I of Persia, who conquered Ancient Egypt, built a canal linking the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. Darius's canal was wide enough for two triremes to pass each other with oars extended, and required four days to traverse. The Western Roman Empire collapsed around AD 476. Temporarily the east was again dominant as Roman power lived on in