Euboea or Evia (both written Εύβοια in Greek) is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait (only 40 m (130 ft) at its narrowest point). In general outline it is a long and narrow island; it is about 180 km (110 mi) long, and varies in breadth from 50 km (31 mi) to 6 km (3.7 mi). Its geographic orientation is from northwest to southeast, and it is traversed throughout its length by a mountain range, which forms part of the chain that bounds Thessaly on the east, and is continued south of Euboea in the lofty islands of Andros, Tinos and Mykonos. It forms most of the regional unit of Euboea, which also includes Skyros and a small area of the Greek mainland.
Euboea was believed to have originally formed part of the mainland, and to have been separated from it by an earthquake. This is fairly probable, because it lies in the neighbourhood of afault line, and both Thucydides and Strabo write that the northern part of the island had been shaken at different periods.In the neighbourhood of Chalcis, both to the north and the south, the bays are so confined as to make plausible the story of Agamemnon’s fleet having been detained there by contrary winds. Primitive stone tools have been excavated in New Artaki, some kilometers away from Chalkis. Those first inhabitants of Evia are known by the name of Avandes (Abantes). Already in prehistoric times, from 1200 B.C. on, we can document a major wave of new settlers belonging to the Ionian Greek culture. Eretria, one of their cities, seems to have contributed ships for the expedition against Troy, if Homer’s list in the Iliad is an accurate one. Eretria, together with Chalkis, were the most important city-states in Evia in the centuries preceding historical times. According to legend, the two city-states were involved in a war, which took place sometime in the 9th century B.C., which was one of the first such “civil” wars in antiquity. Controlling the bridge over Evripos Straight and being connected to Athens by railroad, Evia developed industrial plants and tourism evolved, pointing the way to prosperity.