Cephalonia is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th largest Greek island. The island was named for Cephalus, who was known to throw his spear (given to him by the Gods) with perfect aim; he accidentally killed his wife with his spear during a hunt. Once a wealthy island, its timber-based economy had substantially declined by the time of the Peloponnesian War in 431 BC, and it was sparsely populated. However, it was known for its diverse landscape, including Mount Ainos and Myrtos Beach. In 1185, Sicily conquered Cephalonia from the Byzantine Empire, and it was conquered from the Sicilians by the Ottomans in 1479. In 1500, Cephalonia was captured by a Spanish-Venetian army, and it remained a part of Venice until 1797, when France conquered the Republic of Venice and incorporated the Ionians into its empire. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the British set up the United States of the Ionian Islands, and the islands rejoined Greece in 1864. In 2011, Cephalonia had a population of 35,801 people.
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