Ionia (
Ancient Greek: Ἰωνία or Ἰωνίη; ) is an ancient region of central coastal
Anatolia in present-day
Turkey, the region nearest
İzmir, which was historically
Smyrna. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the
Ionian League of
Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the
Ionian tribe who, in the
Archaic Period (600–480 BC), settled mainly the shores and islands of the
Aegean Sea. Ionian states were identified by tradition and by their use of Eastern Greek.