 The federated United States of the Ionian Islands included seven islands off the coasts of Epirus and the Peloponnese, that had remained in Venetian hands until 1797 and escaped Ottoman rule.Of the seven, six lay in the Ionian Sea, off the western coast of the Greek mainland.These six states were Corfù (Kerkyra), Ithaca, Paxò, Cephalonia, Zante (Zakynthos) and Santa Maura (Lefkas).