group of Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, lying northeast of Euboea (Évvoia) island, including Skíathos, Skópelos, Skyros, and Alónnisos, as well as neighbouring islets. In antiquity these were known as the Thessalian, or Northern, Sporades, while the Thracian, or Eastern, Sporades included the now-Turkish island of İmroz (Greek Imvros), Samothrace, Thasos, Lemnos, and Áyios Evstrátios in the northeast Aegean. The Western Sporades were the scattered small islands of the southwestern Aegean, with the exception of the Cyclades and the islands of the Saronic Gulf; the Western Sporades included Hydra and Spétsai.