Third largest island (pop., 1991: 87,151) in the Aegean Sea. It occupies an area of 630 sq mi (1,630 sq km), and with two other islands it forms a Greek department. Its main town is Mytilene. Lesbos was the birthplace of the poet Sappho and is the source of the term lesbian.
Inhabited since &circa; 3000 &BC;, it was settled in &circa; 1050 &BC; by the Aetolians. After being under Persian rule (527–479 &BC;), it joined the Delian League. In the Peloponnesian War, it fell to Sparta (405 &BC;), but then it was recovered for Athens (389 &BC;). It later flourished under Byzantium. It was ruled by the Ottoman Empire (1462–1911) before being annexed by Greece. Fishing is important economically, as is the export of olives.
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