Samos
now SAMO, an island in the Grecian Archipelago, near the coast of Asia Minor; 45 miles S. W. of Smyrna, formerly belonging to Turkey, and now a possession of Greece; area, 180 square miles. It has a mountainous surface, partly covered with pine forests; several fertile and well-watered valleys; produces SAMOYEDES corn, fruit, and excellent wine; and has several valuable minerals, including argentiferous lead, iron, and marble. The principal town is Vathy, with a good harbor on the N. E. side of the island.
The principal exports are raisins, skins, wine, and oil; imports, grain, colonial produce, and woven fabrics. Samos was inhabited in antiquity by Ionian Greeks, and had an important position among the Greek communities as early as the 7th century в. c. In the latter half of the 6th century it was in a specially flourishing condition under Polycrates, and subsequently was under the domination of Athens. In 84 B. c. it was united with the Roman province of Asia. In 1550 it was conquered by the Turks. It now occupies an exceptional position, having been erected into a tributary principality of the Sublime Porte in 1832, the ruler being a Greek prince. During the Balkan War of 1912 the Greeks seized the island. Pop. about 69,000.