The successor to the ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece.

Historical references begin with the early 8th century BC, when ancient Corinth began to develop as a commercial center.

Cypselus overthrew the Bacchiad family, and between 657 and 585 BC, he and his son Periander ruled Corinth as the Tyrants.

Natural features around the city include the narrow coastal plain of Vocha, the Corinthian Gulf, the Isthmus of Corinth cut by its canal, the Saronic Gulf, the Oneia Mountains, and the monolithic rock of Acrocorinth, where the medieval acropolis was built.

As of 2005[update], a period of Economic changes commenced as a large pipework complex, a textile factory and a meat packing facility diminished their operations.

Corinth is the main entry point to the Peloponnesian peninsula, the southernmost area of continental Greece.

KTEL Korinthias[11] provides intercity bus service in the peninsula and to Athens via the Isthmos station southeast of the city center.

Sea traffic is limited to trade in the export of local produce, mainly citrus fruits, grapes, marble, aggregates and some domestic imports.

The Corinth Canal, carrying ship traffic between the western Mediterranean Sea and the Aegean Sea, is about 4 km (2.5 mi) east of the city, cutting through the Isthmus of Corinth that connects the Peloponnesian peninsula to the Greek mainland, thus effectively making the former an island.

It is 6.4 km (4.0 mi) in length and only 21.3 metres (70 ft) wide at its base, making it impassable for most modern ships.

The canal was mooted in ancient times and an abortive effort was made to dig it in around 600 BC by Periander which led him to pave the Diolkos highway instead.

[13] The emperor Nero then directed the project, which consisted initially of a workforce of 6,000 Jewish prisoners of war, but it was interrupted because of his death.

The project resumed only in 1882, after Greece gained independence from the Ottoman Empire, but was hampered by geological and financial problems that bankrupted the original builders.

It was finally completed in 1893, but due to the canal's narrowness, navigational problems and periodic closures to repair landslips from its steep walls, it failed to attract the level of traffic anticipated by its operators.