Our Oinousses are an Hellenic island formation in the Aegean Sea located between the northeast end of Chios and the west of the Turkish Peninsula of Erithrea. The largest of the five islands is Egnoussa with an approximate area of 14 square kilometres.

In antiquity the five islands were famous for their excellent grapes and wines (Greek word for wine: oinos) and it is believed that this is also the origin of the name "Oinousses."

Additionally, there are two more possible sources for the name for our islands. The most commonly used term by the residents is "Egnoussa" which comes from "agnos" an ancient name of the osier plant that grows abundantly on the islands.

Later, in the 17th century the islands were colonised by shepherds from the Chian town of Kardamila who brought with them their goats which proliferated. Thus, the main island was also called Aegnoussa (Greek word for goat: aega).

During the Greek revolution of 1821 many islanders fled to different parts of Greece to fight the foreign invasion. When they returned to the islands after 1827, they had to withstand the many difficulties caused by the Turkish occupation. Because of the heavy taxes imposed by the Turks, most of the men became sailors. Many of these managed to become ship owners, and today some of the most well-respected and well-recognised ship owners worldwide come from our small islands. Read more on this subject in the book The Greeks and the Sea. The islands were liberated from the Turks in 1912 together with Chios.

A similar situation occurred during World War II and the islands were finally liberated from the German occupation in 1944.

The islands of Oinousses also host one of Greece's major Naval Academies since 1965. Hundreds of graduates work all over the world making all of us proud for their achievements.