Thessaloniki (regional unit)

Thessaloniki Περιφερειακή ενότητα Θεσσαλονίκης
Regional unit
Municipalities of Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki within Greece
Country	Greece
Region	Central Macedonia
Capital	Thessaloniki
Government
• Vice Governor	Apostolos Tzitzikostas
Area
• Total	3,683 km2 (1,422 sq mi)
Population  (2011)
• Total	1,110,312
• Density	300/km2 (780/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal codes	54x xx - 57x xx
Area codes	231, 2391-2397
ISO 3166 code	GR-54
Car plates	NH
Website	[1]

Thessaloniki (Template:Lang-el) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Region of Central Macedonia and its capital is the city of Thessaloniki.

Geography

Lake Volvi

Mount Chortiatis

The regional unit stretches from the Thermaic Gulf to the Strymonic Gulf. The Thermaic Gulf lies to the southwest while the Strymonic Gulf is in the east. Two bodies of water are located to the north, Lake Koronia in the heart of the regional unit and Lake Volvi to the east. There are farmlands throughout the western and the southwestern part, a few in the northeast, the north and along the Axios River valley. The mountains include the Chortiatis to the westcentral part, the Vertiskos to the north and parts of the Kerdylio mountains to the northeast. The regional unit borders on the Imathia regional unit to the southwest, Pella to the west, Kilkis to the north, Serres to the east and Chalkidiki to the south.

Its climate includes hot Mediterranean summers and cool to mild winters in low lying areas and its plains. Winter weather is very common in areas 500 m above sea level and into the mountains.

History

The area of the Thessaloniki regional unit joined the rest of Greece in 1912, during the First Balkan War. The area was struck by an earthquake in 1978, and by flooding due to rainfall in October 2006.

Administration

View of Thermaic Gulf from Peraia.

Thessaloniki

Langadas

Asprovalta

Municipalities

The Thessaloniki regional unit is subdivided into 14 municipalities. These are (number as in the map in the infobox):

• Ampelokipoi-Menemeni (2)
• Chalkidona (13)
• Delta (4)
• Kalamaria (7)
• Kordelio-Evosmos (8)
• Lagkadas (9)
• Neapoli-Sykies (10)
• Oraiokastro (14)
• Pavlos Melas (11)
• Pylaia-Chortiatis (12)
• Thermaikos (5)
• Thermi (6)
• Thessaloniki (1)
• Volvi (3)

Prefecture

The Thessaloniki Prefecture (Template:Lang-el) was created when the area joined with the rest of Greece during the First Balkan War in 1913. Its area was then the largest in the country covering about 7% of all of Greece. The prefectures of Pella and Kilkis were split off in 1930 and 1937 respectively, and after World War II in 1947, Imathia and Pieria.

As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the prefecture was transformed into a regional unit within the Central Macedonia region, without any change in boundaries. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below.

New municipality	Old municipalities	Seat
Ampelokipoi-Menemeni	Ampelokipoi	Ampelokipoi
	Menemeni
Chalkidona	Chalkidona	Koufalia
	Agios Athanasios
	Koufalia
Delta	Axios	Sindos
	Echedoros
	Chalastra
Kalamaria	Kalamaria	Kalamaria
Kordelio-Evosmos	Eleftherio-Kordelio	Evosmos
	Evosmos
Lagkadas	Lagkadas	Lagkadas
	Assiros
	Vertiskos
	Kallindoia
	Koroneia
	Lachanas
	Sochos
Neapoli-Sykies	Neapoli	Sykies
	Agios Pavlos
	Pefka
	Sykies
Oraiokastro	Oraiokastro	Oraiokastro
	Kallithea
	Mygdonia
Pavlos Melas	Efkarpia	Stavroupoli
	Polichni
	Stavroupoli
Pylaia-Chortiatis	Panorama	Panorama
	Pylaia
	Chortiatis
Thermaikos	Thermaikos	Peraia
	Epanomi
	Michaniona
Thermi	Thermi	Thermi
	Vasilika
	Mikra
Thessaloniki	Thessaloniki	Thessaloniki
	Triandria
Volvi	Rentina	Stavros
	Agios Georgios
	Apollonia
	Arethousa
	Egnatia
	Madytos

Provinces

• Province of Thessaloniki
• Province of Lagkadas

Note: Provinces no longer hold any legal status in Greece.

Transport

Egnatia Odos (modern road)

Roads and highways

The regional unit of Thessaloniki is connected with the following roads and highways.

• Motorways:
  • A1/E75 (Republic of Macedonia, Larissa, Athens)
  • A2/E90 (Kozani, Ioannina, Igoumenitsa) (Kavala, Xanthi, Alexandroupolis, Turkey)
  • A25/Ε79 (Serres, Bulgaria)
  • A25 (Macedonia International Airport, Nea Moudania)
• National Roads:
  • ΕΟ2/Ε86 W (Edessa, Florina)
  • ΕΟ12/Ε79 Ν (Serres, Drama)
  • ΕΟ16, SW (Polygyros, Ouranopolis)
  • ΕΟ65, Ν (Kilkis, Doirani)

History

The GR-1 and GR-2 used to be the main road links connecting the regional unit of Thessaloniki with other parts of the country, up until the A1/E75 motorway (constructed during the 1970s) and the A2/E90 motorway (constructed during the 90's) were delivered to the public. Furthermore parts of the GR-67 (in the near future to form part of the A25) linking Chalkidiki and the GR-65 linking Kilkis, were converted into motorways during the 2000s.

Mass transit

• Public transport services are provided by the Thessaloniki Urban Transport Organization
• Thessaloniki Metro (under construction, to be completed in late 2018)

Communications

Most of the stations are in the city (see Thessaloniki#Communications). Here are list of stations outside the city:

• Thermi TV - Thermi

Major Sport Clubs

• Iraklis (founded in 1908)
• Aris (founded in 1914)
• PAOK (founded in 1926)
• Apollon Kalamarias (founded in 1926)
• Agrotikos Asteras (founded in 1932)

See also

• List of settlements in the Thessaloniki regional unit
• Macedonia (Greece)