island is composed of marble, though gneiss and mica-schist are to be found in a few places. To the west of Paros lies its smaller sister island Antiparos. At its narrowest, the channel between the two islands is less than 2 km 0 abbr=on wide. A car-carrying shuttle-ferry operates all day (to and from Pounda, 5 km 0 abbr=on south of Parikia). In addition a dozen smaller islets surround Paros.

Paros has numerous beaches including Golden Beach