Macedonia (Greece)

Macedonia is a historical and geographical region in northern Greece. It is the second most populous region of Greece and usually it is referred as Northern Greece along with Thrace. It is situated between the Pindus Mountains and river Nestos and it borders west with Epirus and Thessaly, northwestern with Albania, north with North Macedonia, northeastern with Bulgaria and east with Thrace. Its south coasts are washed by the Aegean Sea. Macedonia is separated in three smaller peripheries: West Macedonia, Central Macedonia and East Macedonia and Thrace. It has a total population of 2,424,765 inhabitants according to the 2001 census and its total area is 34,177 km². The capital of Macedonia is Thessaloniki and has a population of about 1,000,000 inhabitants. Macedonia's national anthem is Μακεδονία Ξακουστή which means Famous Macedonia.

The Macedonian flag.

Macedonia's location.

Geography

Macedonia has many mountains and the tallest is Mount Olympus which has a high of 2,917 meters. There are also many valleys that are some of the biggest in the whole Greece. Rivers such as Aliakmon, Axios, Nestos, and Strymonas cross these valleys and drain into the Aegean Sea.

Prefectures and population

Macedonia consists 13 prefectures and sometimes it is said to be 14 because there is also a monastery region, Mount Athos, which is autonomous.

Map of Macedonia	Number	Periphery	Capital	Area	Population
	Total	West Macedonia	Kozani	9,451 km²	301,522
	1	Kastoria Prefecture	Kastoria	1,720 km²	53,483
	2	Florina Prefecture	Florina	1,924 km²	54,768
	3	Kozani Prefecture	Kozani	3,516 km²	155,324
	4	Grevena Prefecture	Grevena	2,291 km²	37,947
	Total	Central Macedonia	Thessaloniki	18,811 km²	1,871,952
	5	Pella Prefecture	Edessa	2,506 km²	145,797
	6	Imathia Prefecture	Veria	1,701 km²	143,618
	7	Pieria Prefecture	Katerini	1,516 km²	129,846
	8	Kilkis Prefecture	Kilkis	2,519 km²	89,056
	9	Thessaloniki Prefecture	Thessaloniki	3,683 km²	1,057,825
	10	Chalkidiki Prefecture	Polygyros	2,918 km²	104,894
	11	Serres Prefecture	Serres	3.968 km²	200,916
	Total	East Macedonia (Part of East Macedonia and Thrace)	Kavala	5,579 km²	249,029
	12	Drama Prefecture (Part of the Drama–Kavala–Xanthi super-prefecture)	Drama	3,468 km²	103,975
	13	Kavala Prefecture (Part of the Drama–Kavala–Xanthi super-prefecture)	Kavala	2,111 km²	145,054
	-	Mount Athos (Autonomous)	Karyes	336 km²	2,262
	Total	'Macedonia'	Thessaloniki	34,177 km²	2,424,765

And the population of the largest towns:

View of Mount Olympus from the village Litochoro.

Panorama of Kastoria with its lake.

Towns/Cities	Greek Name	Population
01. Thessaloniki (municipality)	Δήμος Θεσσαλονίκης	363,987
02. Kavala	Καβάλα	63,293
03. Katerini	Κατερίνη	56,434
04. Serres	Σέρρες	56,145
05. Drama	Δράμα	55,632
06. Kozani	Κοζάνη	47,451
07. Veria	Βέροια	47,411
08. Ptolemaida	Πτολεμαΐδα	35,539
09. Giannitsa	Γιαννιτσά	26,296
10. Kilkis	Κιλκίς	24,812
11. Naousa	Νάουσα	22,288
12. Aridaia	Αριδαία	20,213
13. Alexandreia	Αλεξάνδρεια	19,283
14. Edessa	Έδεσσα	18,253
15. Nea Moudania	Νέα Μουδανιά	17,032
16. Florina	Φλώρινα	16,771
17. Kastoria	Καστοριά	16,218
18. Grevena	Γρεβενά	15,481
19. Polygyros	Πολύγυρος	10,721
20. Skydra	Σκύδρα	5,081

Related pages

• Macedonia
• Republic of Macedonia

Other websites

• Macedonia, The Historical Profile of Northern Greece Archived 2017-11-16 at the Wayback Machine
• Macedonia and Thrace region site Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine (in English)
• Region of Central Macedonia Archived 2007-10-11 at the Wayback Machine
• Region of Western Macedonia Archived 2014-12-18 at the Wayback Machine
• Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Archived 2005-05-29 at the Wayback Machine