The island of Chios and the two islets of Oinousses and Psara constitute the Prefecture of Chios.
Chios is located in the northeastern Aegean Sea, a few kilometres from the eastern coast.
It is the fifth largest island of Greece with an area of 841.58 km² and a coastline of 213 km, famous for its deep blue waters. According to the 2001 census, Chios has a population of 53,052 inhabitants. Oinousses has 686 inhabitants and Psara 438.
The prefecture is made up of 10 municipalities: Chios, Omiroupoli, Kardamyla, Kampohora, Mastichochoria, Amani, Ionia, Saint Minas, Psara and Oinousses.
The capital of the island is the beautiful town of Chios, called Chora by the locals. Chora is located almost in the middle of the eastern coast, 23 km² big with 22.894 inhabitants.
The island is dotted with 52 beautiful villages, each with its own character. According to their geographical position, they are divided into 3 large groups: the southern or Mastichochoria, the northern Voriochora and Campochora.
The capital is the main port of the island and other ports are in Mesta, Lagkada and Marmaro. There are also smaller marinas capable of supporting small sailing vessels.
Shipping, of course, plays an important role in the economy of Chios, with an ever-increasing workforce. On the other hand, agriculture and farming are losing ground. The 8% of the working population are employed in manufacturing, 15% in services and tourism and 75% are directly or indirectly employed in the shipping industry.
The cultivated area of Chios is about 167.000 hectares, of which only 13.500 are irrigated. Only in Chios and especially in the southern part of the island, the famous mastic tree grows and is cultivated. The annual production of mastic is one hundred and twenty tons and it is exported to many countries, especially to Japan.
In Chios there are many crops such as citrus fruits and especially mandarins, which account for about 20% of the total Greek production.
Fish farming is a new and developing sector of the Chios economy. And there are many producers of unique Chian sweets. On Keramos there are exploitable layers of antimony and hot springs near Agiasmata.
Chios has a mild Mediterranean climate with north, north-west winds and average temperatures of 28 or 29°C. Winters are mild and there is usually no rain in summer. Chios doesn’t have the heavy tourist development of other Aegean islands, so there is a high quality of tourism with high standard services offered by the businessmen and the authorities of Chios.