| Macedonia (greece) |
Article Index for Macedonia |
Limousines in Macedonia |
Website Links For Macedonia |
Information AboutMacedonia (greece) |
|
Macedonia ( of Greece . Together with the regions of Thessaly and Thrace , it is often referred to unofficially as ''northern Greece''. It is located at coordinates . Its territory covers most of the region of Ancient Macedonia , the birthplace of Alexander The Great . Its name was later imparted to a wider Balkan region that became known in modern times as Macedonia of which it forms 52.4% of the land and 52.9% of the population. It was part of the Ottoman Empire until 1912. In 1913, most of the Ottoman lands in Europe (including Macedonia) were divided between the surrounding countries of Greece , Serbia , Bulgaria , Albania and Montenegro . HISTORY ]] ian Empire.]] Main articles: Macedonia (region) , Kingdom Of Macedon and The Rise Of Macedon The history of Greek Macedonia is very long, from Ancient to Modern Greece . It started with the Kingdom of Macedon ia, (that was reorganised by Philip II ), through the empire of Alexander The Great , continues within the Roman and Byzantine Empire s, the domination of the Ottomans (from 14th century until 1912) and the Balkan Wars . Modern History Main articles: History Of Modern Greece , History Of Modern Macedonia , Macedonian Struggle , Balkan Wars , Greek Civil War and the Macedonian Question ETYMOLOGY Main article: Etymology Of The Name Of Macedonia and Makednos There are three theories for the etymology of the name Macedonia: #According to ancient Greek Mythology , Macedon was the name of the first ''phylarch'' (tribal chief) of the tribe that initially settled western, southern and central Macedonia and founded the kingdom of Macedon . #According to Herodotus , the ''Makednoí'' were a tribe of the Dorians . The name probably derives from the Doric noun ''mākos'' (Attic and Modern Greek ''mákros'' and ''mēkos''), meaning "length", and the Doric adjective ''makednós'', meaning "tall", since both the Macedonians (''Makedónes'') and their ''Makednoí'' tribal ancestors were regarded as tall people. The adjective is used by Homer in Odyssey (7.105f), to describe a tall Poplar tree, and by Aristophanes in his comedy '' The Birds '', to describe a wall built around their imaginary city.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT Macedonia is divided into three Peripheries comprising thirteen Prefectures or ''nomoi''. The prefectures are further divided into '' Demoi '' ( Municipalities ) or ''koinotetes'' (roughly equivalent to British or Australian Shires ). The geographical region of Macedonia also includes the Male -only Autonomous Monastic republic of Mount Athos , but this is not part of the Macedonia precincts. Indeed, Mount Athos lies outside the jurisdiction of most Greek and European laws. Due to the whole mountain's monastic status, it is inaccessible to women. The three Macedonian peripheries and their prefectures are: These are overseen by the national government's Ministry Of Macedonia And Thrace . Macedonia borders the neighboring peripheries of Thessaly , Thrace and Epirus . GEOGRAPHY was used as a prison during the era of the Ottoman Empire . Today it is a museum and the landmark of the city.]] '']] Macedonia covers an area of some 44,231 km&2. High ground makes up much of the region with mountains reaching up to 2,919 m (6,500 ft); extensive fertile plains lie along the Aegean Sea coast. Macedonia is traversed by the valleys of the Aliakmon , Axios , Nestos , and Strymonas rivers, all of which drain into the Aegean. It borders the countries of Albania , the Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia and Bulgaria , and the Greek regions of Epirus , Thessaly and Thrace . The offshore island of Thasos is within the precincts of Macedonia; together with Samothrace , they belong to the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace (Ανατολική Μακεδονία και Θράκη)'. EUROPA - The EU at a glance - Maps - Greece - Anatoliki Makedonia ke Thraki The region has a population of 2,625,681, and its capital and largest city is Thessaloniki , with a population of around 1,000,000. Since World War II , Greek Macedonia is sometimes called ''Aegean Macedonia'', a term introduced by Tito in 1945 to lay claim on Greek Macedonia and in the build up to the Greek civil war. Although this term is now used mostly by Macedonian Slavs and occasionally in historical contexts, it is strongly disliked by many Greeks (particularly Macedonians ), who remember that after WWII, Tito's communist Yugoslavia began to remove the 'Greek' qualifying term in order to justify Territorial Claims against Greek Macedonia. The capital '''. It is also the capital of the Thessaloniki Prefecture and the capital of the EU Region (or, synonymously, Greek Periphery ) of Central Macedonia . Today's population of the City's Metropolitan Area is around 1,120,000. The city was founded circa 315 BC by Cassander , the King of Macedon (Μακεδών), on or near the site of the ancient town of Therma and twenty six other local villages. He named it after his wife Thessalonica , the sister of Alexander The Great . She gained her name from her father, Philip II Of Macedon , to commemorate her birth on the day of his gaining a victory (Gr. Nike) over the Phocians , who were defeated with the help of Thessalian horsemen, the best in Greece at that time. Thessaloniki means the "victory of Thessalians" (where Thessalians derives from Thessaly which means thesi alos, i.e. "a land that was sea"). The Apostle Paul landed at Thessaloníki ( after Kavala and before Veria ) on his second voyage to Europe (Acts, xvi. 11), and in Byzantine times the city was called symbasileousa 'συμβασιλεύουσα' (co-queen) by the Greeks . Byzantine Greek brothers Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius were born in Thessaloníki. Thessaloníki was part of the Ottoman Empire from 1430 to 1912 . Thessaloniki was the main "prize" of the First Balkan War , as a result of which it was united with Greece on October 26 1912 . This date has an immense importance for the city as, in addition to the aforementioned historic event of the unification, it also marks the nameday of Saint Demetrius , its patron Saint. Thessaloniki is a thriving, vibrant city and its commercial port is of a strategic importance for Greece . It is a major economic, industrial, commercial and cultural center as well as a transportation hub in southeastern Europe . The city hosts a large student population and it is widely renowned for its large number of monuments of Byzantine Architecture as well as its eminent nightlife.
|