Aegina, island, Greece. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Columbia Encyclopedia World Factbook American Heritage Coll.
Tourism is also important.
The chief town is Aegina on the northwest shore. The island, inhabited from late Neolithic times, was named for the mythological figure Aegina . Its culture was influenced by Minoan Crete. Conquered by Dorian Greeks, it grew rapidly as a commercial state and struck the first Greek coins. In 431 B.C. the Athenians, against whom Aegina sided in the Peloponnesian War, expelled the population of the island, and Aegina fell into insignificance.