General information about Corfu.

Geography and climate.

Corfu, Kerkyra in Greek is the northest among the Seven Ionian islands laying in a branch of the Mediterranean Sea, called the Ionian Sea, on the Western side of Greece.

Corfu has got two neighbor countries: the first one is Albania, from which it is separated by the Corfu channel. The closest town and port is Saranda (Aghii Saranda) which is linked to Corfu by a daily ferryboat all year round and daily cruises during the summer season.

The second neighbor is Italy. As Corfu is very close to the strait of Otranto, therefore Brindisi is 7 hours away sailing! Thanks to its position between Italy, Albania and Greece, Corfu is a strategic place and therefore it was always a point of interest for all the foreign powers since the Homeric times.

Corfu is also the greenest island in Greece thanks to the rain fall during autumn and winter (115cm of rain/year) and humidity which could reach 95%. The average temperature during winter is 12-13 degrees C. While in the summer, it is 31 degrees C.

Thanks to the micro-climate that Corfu has, it is a fact that anytime of the year one could visit this island and he will always find it green! One can hardly see the ground because most of it is covered with trees, bushes and grass. What changes the scenery are the wild or planted flowers blooming according to seasons. Corfu is very well known for its great variety of wild flowers, like orchids.

Among the Ionian islands , Corfu is the second largest island after Cefalonia (Kefallinia) around 600 km2, mainly covered with hills. The highest mountain laying in the North-east part of the island is called the Pantokrator (Lord of the universe), which has an altitude of 911m. Then comes Aghii Deka (Ten Saints) exactly in the center of the island, 545m altitude and Chlomos in the south. Corfu has also some valleys: one in the North, one in the middle(Valley of Ropa) and one in the South(Valley of Lefkimi). This is where normally you would find cattle of sheep and goats as well as vineyards.

Local products.

Longtime ago, before Corfu started off in tourism, the Corfiot butter and the goat cheese were very famous allover Greece.

Wine is one of the products that Corfiots continue to produce. As they grow several varieties of vineyards, they produce all kinds of wine, for all tastes.

The number one product on Corfu is for sure olive oil. Almost all the surface of the island is covered with olive trees. There are approximately 4 millions olive trees from the same variety, a Venetian one: small olives, tasty and oily. The olive tree has always existed around the Mediterranean, but so intensively planted, we encounter it during the Venetian dominion which started in 1386 and ended in 1797. The Venitians decided to get the monopoly of the olive oil trade in the Mediterranean from the hands of the Genovese. They then thought of transforming Corfu in a large olive grove. They encouraged the inhabitants of the island in planting olive trees by giving them subsidies. So people then planted everywhere olive trees and this is how for centuries and centuries olive oil became number one product on this island.

One of the most unusual products of Corfu is the KUM KUAT, a little orange originally from China (Golden fruit). The first plant was brought to Corfu by a British gentleman in the year 1860. Since then a sweet liqueur, candied and glaced fruit were produced. Today it is a real local product of Corfu.

Economy.

The first source of income on Corfu is Tourism. Almost 70% of the population live from it. Tourism is seasonal on the island of Corfu, starting from the end of April till the end of October. Most of the tourists come from European countries with charter flights from big and small cities directly to Corfu airport during the summertime.