The island of Delos, located near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is, without doubt, one of the most important mythological, historical and archaeological sites in Greece, bearing traces of the succeeding civilizations in the Aegean world, from the 3rd millennium B.C. to the palaeochristian era. It had a position as a holy sanctuary for a millennium before Olympian Greek mythology made it the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. Established as a culture center, Delos had an importance that its natural resources could never have offered. The island has limited water resources and no productive capacity for food, so even in 2001 it has a population of only 14 inhabitants. In 1990, UNESCO inscribed it on the World Heritage List, citing it as the "exceptionally extensive and rich" archaeological site which "conveys the image of a great cosmopolitan Mediterranean port".
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