Kalamos with its 25 km2 area is the largest of the islets that lie around the island Lefas / Lefkada. It is situated east of Lefkada and not far from the mainland. The island is like a mountain ridge, that runs from one side to the other. The highest point of Kalamos is 754 meters and is located in the center of the island. The coast is rocky and there are few ports. There are approximately 465 people living in Kalamos. The north and the east of the island is mainly covered with a pine tree forest and there are many small beaches.
There are regular ferry services between the villages of Kalamos and Episkopi on the island of Kalamos and the town Mytikas on the mainland of Greece. Kalamos is the largest village of the island, where nearly the entire population lives, and Episkopi is much smaller. Here live only about 60 people. Another village, Kefali, was abandonned after the 1953 earthquake destroyed the water supply system, and the village is now all deserted. From the village of Nidri on the island of Lefkas there are boat excursions to Kalamos island and the even smaller neighbouring island of Kastos.
Kalamos has been inhabited since the Neolithic period. Also during the Mycenaean and classical times there were people living on the island. The Romans built a fort between the island and the mainland to protect the passage. Later the island fell into Byzantine and Venetian hands. The Russians and the French also waved the sceptor here.
