Thásos (thā`sŏs), island (1991 pop. 13,527), c.170 sq mi (440 sq km), NE Greece, in the Aegean Sea. Timber, olive oil, honey, wine, and lead-zinc ores are its chief products; boatbuilding, fishing, and tourism are the main industries. Oil was discovered in the Aegean off Thasos in the early 1970s, leading to a dispute with Turkey over continental shelf rights. In legend its earliest colonists were led by Thasus, son of Poseidon, for whom the island was named. It was famous in ancient times for its gold mines, which were exploited by the Phoenicians. The island was colonized c.708 B.C. by persons from Páros, among whom was the poet Archilochus. In the 5th cent. B.C. it was subdued by Persia and then fell to Athens. A revolt against Athens was put down by Cimon in 463 B.C. The Ottoman Turks held Thásos almost continuously from the mid-15th cent. A.D. until 1912, when it passed to Greece.

Thásos

Island, northern Aegean Sea, northeastern Macedonia, Greece. It covers 146 sq mi (379 sq km). It was colonized c. 700 BC by Greeks from Páros who exploited its gold mines and founded a school of sculpture. The Persians seized Thásos in the early 5th century BC; it later came under the authority of Athens as a member of the Delian League. A Macedonian dependency in 202 BC, Thásos passed to Rome in 196 BC. The Turks ruled it from the mid-15th century AD until it was ceded to Greece in 1913. Its industries include boatbuilding, fishing, and tourism, and it has been a base for offshore oil exploration since the 1970s. Many 7th–2nd-century-BC monuments have been found there.