Naupaktos

Nafpaktos Ναύπακτος
Nafpaktos; view from the fortress.
Nafpaktos
Location within the regional unit
Coordinates: 38°23′N 21°49′E / 38.383°N 21.817°E / 38.383; 21.817Coordinates: 38°23′N 21°49′E / 38.383°N 21.817°E / 38.383; 21.817
Country	Greece
Administrative region	West Greece
Regional unit	Aetolia-Acarnania
Municipality	Nafpaktia
• Municipal unit	159.9 km2 (61.7 sq mi)
Elevation	15 m (49 ft)
Population (2011)
• Municipal unit	19,768
• Municipal unit density	120/km2 (320/sq mi)
Community
• Population	31,594 (2011)
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code	303 xx
Area code(s)	26340
Vehicle registration	ME
Website	www.nafpaktos.gr

Nafpaktos (Greek: Ναύπακτος) is a town and a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, Greece, situated on a bay on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, 3 km (2 mi) west of the mouth of the river Mornos.

It is named for Naupaktos (Ναύπακτος, Latinized Naupactus), an important Athenian naval station in the Peloponnesian war. As a strategically crucial possession controlling access to the Gulf of Corinth, Naupactus changed hands many times during the Crusades and the Ottoman–Venetian Wars. It was under Venetian control in the 15th century, and came to be known by the Venetian form of its name, Lepanto. It fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1499 and was used as naval station by the Ottoman Navy in the 16th century, being the site of the decisively victory by the Holy League in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Excepting a brief period of Venetian control in 1687–1699, Lepanto remained under Ottoman control until Greek independence in 1829.

The modern municipality was incorporated in 1946, but merged into the larger Nafpaktia municipality in the 2010 reform. Nafpaktos is now both the name of a municipal unit within Nafpaktia and of the town proper within the Nafpaktos unit. The municipal district has an area of 159,947 square kilometres (61,756 square miles), with a population close to 20,000 as of 2011^[update].