Paros, Or Paro, an island of Greece, in the Archipelago, one of the Oyclades, separated from Naxos or Naxia on the east by a strait 5 m. wide; length N. E. and S. W. 14 m., greatest breadth 11 m.; area, 80 sq. m.; pop. about 6,000. Its highest point, Mount St. Elias, is 2,530 ft. above the sea. There are several harbors, Parikia on the west, St. Maria, Marmora, and Trio on the east, and Naussa on the north, the best in the Archipelago. There are also several villages, of which the principal is Parikia, on the site of the ancient Paros. The country, though hilly, is fertile, and produces principally olives and cotton, and also corn, wine, fruit, and legumes. In former times it was celebrated for its marble, which was remarkably white and durable, and was considered second only to that of Pentelicus. The principal quarries were in Mount Marpessa. - Paros, according to tradition, was first inhabited by Cretans and Arcadians, and obtained its name from Parus, a son of the Arcadian Parrhasius. It was early colonized by the Ionians, and by means of its maritime trade became so prosperous that it colonized Thasos, Parium on the Propontis, and Pharus on the Illyrian coast.

Having submitted to the Persians after the battle of Marathon (490 B. C), it was enabled to defy Miltiades, and after the sea fight off Sa-lamis (480) secured its safety by paying a fine to Themistocles. Subsequently it fell into the power of Athens, along with the other islands of the AEgean. In the 13th century it became subject to Venice, constituting for a time a portion of the dukedom of Naxos; but subsequently it came into the possession of the Venetian family of Venier, and in the 16th century was taken by the pirate Barbarossa. Toward the close of the 18th it became a naval station for the Russian fleet, and it now belongs to the Greek nomarchy of the Oyclades.