Lefkada, or Lefkadia, probably owes its name to the steep white rocks of its southern promontory, Lefkata, or to its snow-white, dreamlike beaches. It was from Lefkata that the poet Sappho is said to have leapt to her death, driven to suicide by her unhappy love for Phaon. The first traces of human habitation date back to 8.000 BC. Important findings from a settlement near Nydri, dating from around 2,000 BC, are evidence of an idiosyncratic culture, with links to the mainland shores opposite. The first inhabitants of Lefkada were the Leleges, who were conquered by the Kefallinioi and by Laertes, father of Odysseus.
In the 7th century BC Nirikos, to the south of the town of Lefkada, was one of the largest Greek cities. The Lefkadans were present at the naval battle of Salamina and the battle of Plataia, participated in the Peloponnesian War and the campaigns of Alexander the Great, and fought against the Romans in the 3rd century BC. During the Byzantine period the island was incorporated into the Despotate of Epeirus, and later fell into the hands of the Count Orsini, who had the fortress of Agia Mavra constructed as a defence against pirates. There followed a long period of Venetian rule and of wars with the Turks, who finally occupied the island and remained for 180 years.
After the Turkish departure the island reverted to Venetian rule. The Venetians granted the islanders a rudimentary constitution and organized Lefkada as a republic. The island later spent a few years as a -French possession; during these years the islanders were profoundly influenced by the liberal ideas of the French Revolution. In the 19th century the island was occupied by the English, and many important works of the island's infrastructure were constructed during these years. In the War of Independence which commenced in 1821 the people of Lefkada fought with every means at their disposal. Lefkada, along with the other Ionian islands, was united with Greece in 1864.