Rhodes

Rhodes (/roʊdz/ ^ⓘ; Greek: Ρόδος, romanized: Ródos [ˈroðos]) is the largest of Greece's Dodecanese islands and their historical capital; it is the ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, Rhodes constitutes a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the South Aegean administrative region. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is the city of Rhodes, home to its 50,636 inhabitants according to its 2011 census. By 2022, the island’s population had grown to 125,113 people. Located northeast of Crete and southeast of Athens, Rhodes is often referred to by several nicknames: the "Island of the Sun" after its patron sun god Helios; "The Pearl Island"; and "The Island of the Knights", a reference to the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, who ruled the island from 1310 to 1522.

Historically, Rhodes was famous for the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Medieval Old Town of the City of Rhodes has been declared a World Heritage Site. During the early 21st century the island was one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe.

The island has been known as Ρόδος (Ródos) in Greek throughout its history. Similar-sounding ῥόδον (rhódon) in ancient Greek was the word for the rose, whilst in modern Greek the also similar-sounding ρόδι (ródi) or ρόιδο (róido) refers to the pomegranate. It was also called Lindos (Ancient Greek: Λίνδος). In addition, the island has been called Rodi in Italian, Rodos in Turkish, and רודי (Rodi) or רודיס (Rodes) in Ladino.

Other ancient names were Ρόδη (Rodē), Τελχινίς (Telchinis) and Ηλιάς (Helias).

The Travels of Sir John Mandeville incorrectly reports that Rhodes was formerly called "Collosus", through a conflation of the Colossus of Rhodes and Paul's Epistle to the Colossians, which refers to Colossae.

The island's name might be derived from erod, Phoenician for snake, since the island was home to many snakes in antiquity.

During the Late Pleistocene, the island was inhabited by an unnamed species of dwarf elephant. The island has been inhabited by humans since at least the late Neolithic, as evidenced by remains found at Kalythies cave on the northeast of the island.

At the end of the 3rd millennium BC, during the Early Bronze Age, major urban settlements began to develop on Rhodes, such as Asomatos, which is the earliest known urban centre on the island. Duck shaped vases found at Asomatos suggest contact with Cyprus as well as elsewhere in the Aegean region during this time.