<P> The current name of Crete is thought to be first attested in Mycenaean Greek texts written in Linear B, through the words ke - re-te (* Krētes; later Greek: Κρῆτες, plural of Κρής), ke - re-si - jo (* Krēsijos; later Greek: Κρήσιος), "Cretan". In Ancient Greek, the name Crete (Κρήτη) first appears in Homer's Odyssey . Its etymology is unknown . One proposal derives it from a hypothetical Luvian word * kursatta (cf . kursawar "island", kursattar "cutting, sliver"). In Latin, it became Creta . </P> <P> The original Arabic name of Crete was Iqrīṭiš (Arabic: اقريطش ‎ <(της) Κρήτης), but after the Emirate of Crete's establishment of its new capital at ربض الخندق Rabḍ al - Ḫandaq (modern Iraklion), both the city and the island became known as Χάνδαξ (Khandhax) or Χάνδακας (Khandhakas), which gave Latin and Venetian Candia, from which were derived French Candie and English Candy or Candia . Under Ottoman rule, in Ottoman Turkish, Crete was called Girit (كريت). </P> <P> Crete is the largest island in Greece and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is located in the southern part of the Aegean Sea separating the Aegean from the Libyan Sea . </P> <P> The island has an elongated shape: it spans 260 km (160 mi) from east to west, is 60 km (37 mi) at its widest point, and narrows to as little as 12 km (7.5 mi) (close to Ierapetra). Crete covers an area of 8,336 km (3,219 sq mi), with a coastline of 1,046 km (650 mi); to the north, it broaches the Sea of Crete (Greek: Κρητικό Πέλαγος); to the south, the Libyan Sea (Greek: Λιβυκό Πέλαγος); in the west, the Myrtoan Sea, and toward the east the Karpathian Sea . It lies approximately 160 km (99 mi) south of the Greek mainland . </P>

Where is crete located on the world map