Florina Prefecture
Encyclopedia
Florina is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of West Macedonia
. Its capital is the town of Florina
.
(Devoll
and Korçë
districts) to the west, the Republic of Macedonia
(Bitola
and Resen
municipalities) to the north and Lake Prespa
to the northwest, where the two borders cross each other. Lake Vegoritida is situated in the east.
Mountains in the regional unit include Verno
(2128 m (6,982 ft)), Varnous
(2117 m (6,946 ft)) and Voras (2524 m (8,281 ft)).
in 1915. As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the regional unit Florina was created out of the former prefecture Florina. The prefecture had the same territory as the present regional unit. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below.
population includes a linguistic minority of bilingual Slavophones, who in the early 1990s formed about 64% of the rural population and about 16% of the prefecture's total population. There are also around 1,200 Slavophones—approximately 2% of the local population—who profess an ethnic Macedonian identity. There also exist smaller communities of Aromanians
and Arvanites
, which today mostly have an ethnic Greek identity.
A diverse range of dialects
are spoken in the prefecture alongside the official standard and local Macedonian varieties of Greek
. Many people speak the local Macedonian Slavic dialects
and especially the Lower Prespa dialect
and the Prilep-Bitola dialect
.
, bean
s and peach
es. Beans are produced near Lake Prespa.
West Macedonia
West Macedonia is one of the thirteen regions of Greece, consisting of the western part of Greek Macedonia. It is divided into the regional units of Florina, Grevena, Kastoria, and Kozani.-Geography:...
. Its capital is the town of Florina
Florina
Florina is a town and municipality in mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. It is also the Metropolitan seat for the region. It lies in the central part of Florina peripheral unit, of which it is the capital. Florina belongs to the periphery of West...
.
Geography
Florina borders the regional units of Pella to the east, Kozani to the south and Kastoriá to the southwest. At the Greek international borders, it is adjacent to AlbaniaAlbania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
(Devoll
Devoll District
The District of Devoll is one of the thirty-six districts of Albania, part of Korçë County and derives its name from the Devoll river flowing through the valley. It has a population of 33,785, and an area of 429 km². It is in the southeastern corner of the country, and its capital is Bilisht...
and Korçë
Korçë District
The District of Korçë , is one of the thirty-six districts of Albania. According estimates, as of January 1, 2010, 138,898 people lived in the Korce District...
districts) to the west, the Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
(Bitola
Bitola municipality
Bitola is a municipality in southern Republic of Macedonia. Bitola is also the name of the city where the municipal seat is found. The municipality is located in the Pelagonia Statistical Region.-Geography:...
and Resen
Resen municipality
Resen is a municipality in southwestern Republic of Macedonia. Resen is also the name of the town where the municipal seat is found. Resen Municipality is located in the Pelagonia Statistical Region.-Geography:...
municipalities) to the north and Lake Prespa
Lake Prespa
Prespa is the name of two freshwater lakes in southeast Europe, shared by Greece, Albania, and Macedonia. Of the total surface area, belongs to Macedonia, to Greece and to Albania...
to the northwest, where the two borders cross each other. Lake Vegoritida is situated in the east.
Mountains in the regional unit include Verno
Verno
Verno , older form Vernon, is a mountain range covering the northeastern Kastoria and southwestern Florina prefectures in Greece. Its peaks stand over ....
(2128 m (6,982 ft)), Varnous
Varnous
Varnous or Varnountas is a mountain in northern Florina prefecture, Greece, situated between the town of Florina and Lake Prespa, and just south of the border with the Republic of Macedonia. Its highest peak is 2,334 m. It is also called Peristeri...
(2117 m (6,946 ft)) and Voras (2524 m (8,281 ft)).
Administration
The regional unit Florina is subdivided into 3 municipalities. These are (number as in the map in the infobox):- AmyntaioAmyntaioAmyntaio is a town and municipality in the Florina peripheral unit of Macedonia, Greece. The population of Amyntaio proper is 4,407, while that of the entire municipality is 18,975...
(2) - FlorinaFlorinaFlorina is a town and municipality in mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. It is also the Metropolitan seat for the region. It lies in the central part of Florina peripheral unit, of which it is the capital. Florina belongs to the periphery of West...
(1) - PrespesPrespesPrespes is a municipality in the Florina peripheral unit, Greece. Population 1,851 . The seat of the municipality is in Laimos.-Municipality:...
(3)
Prefecture
Florina was created as a prefecturePrefectures of Greece
During the first administrative division of independent Greece in 1833–1836 and then again from 1845 until their abolition with the Kallikratis reform in 2010, the prefectures were the country's main administrative unit...
in 1915. As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the regional unit Florina was created out of the former prefecture Florina. The prefecture had the same territory as the present regional unit. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below.
| New municipality | Old municipalities | Seat |
|---|---|---|
| Amyntaio Amyntaio Amyntaio is a town and municipality in the Florina peripheral unit of Macedonia, Greece. The population of Amyntaio proper is 4,407, while that of the entire municipality is 18,975... |
Amyntaio Amyntaio Amyntaio is a town and municipality in the Florina peripheral unit of Macedonia, Greece. The population of Amyntaio proper is 4,407, while that of the entire municipality is 18,975... |
Amyntaio |
| Aetos Aetos, Florina Aetos is a village and a former municipality in Florina peripheral unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Amyntaio, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 18 km southeast of Florina... |
||
| Variko Variko Variko is a village and a former community in Florina peripheral unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Amyntaio, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 27 km south-southeast of the city of Florina. The population in 2001 was 698.... |
||
| Lechovo Lechovo Lechovo is a village and a former community in Florina peripheral unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Amyntaio, of which it is a municipal unit. Population 1,227 . The picturesque village is set amongst the mountains of Northern... |
||
| Nymfaio Nymfaio Nymfaio is a predominantly Aromanian village and a former community in Florina peripheral unit, West Macedonia, Greece. After the 2011 local government reform it became a member of the municipality Amyntaio... |
||
| Filotas Filotas Filotas is a village and a former municipality in Florina peripheral unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Amyntaio, of which it is a municipal unit. Population 4,532 .... |
||
| Florina Florina Florina is a town and municipality in mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. It is also the Metropolitan seat for the region. It lies in the central part of Florina peripheral unit, of which it is the capital. Florina belongs to the periphery of West... |
Florina Florina Florina is a town and municipality in mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. It is also the Metropolitan seat for the region. It lies in the central part of Florina peripheral unit, of which it is the capital. Florina belongs to the periphery of West... |
Florina |
| Kato Kleines Kato Kleines Kato Kleines is a village and a former municipality in Florina peripheral unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Florina, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 7 km north of the city of Florina... |
||
| Meliti Meliti Meliti is a former municipality in Florina peripheral unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Florina, of which it is a municipal unit... |
||
| Perasma Perasma Perasma is a village and a former municipality in Florina peripheral unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Florina, of which it is a municipal unit. It is located in a plain, 6 km southeast of Florina... |
||
| Prespes Prespes Prespes is a municipality in the Florina peripheral unit, Greece. Population 1,851 . The seat of the municipality is in Laimos.-Municipality:... |
Prespes Prespes Prespes is a municipality in the Florina peripheral unit, Greece. Population 1,851 . The seat of the municipality is in Laimos.-Municipality:... |
Laimos |
| Krystallopigi Krystallopigi Krystallopigi is a former community in Florina regional unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Krystallopigi means "crystal source". Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Prespes, of which it is a municipal unit. The population is 383 . The main village is also called... |
Demographics
According to the 2001 census, the population of Florina Prefecture was 55,210 people. The local GreekGreeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
population includes a linguistic minority of bilingual Slavophones, who in the early 1990s formed about 64% of the rural population and about 16% of the prefecture's total population. There are also around 1,200 Slavophones—approximately 2% of the local population—who profess an ethnic Macedonian identity. There also exist smaller communities of Aromanians
Aromanians
Aromanians are a Latin people native throughout the southern Balkans, especially in northern Greece, Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, and as an emigrant community in Serbia and Romania . An older term is Macedo-Romanians...
and Arvanites
Arvanites
Arvanites are a population group in Greece who traditionally speak Arvanitika, a dialect of the Albanian language. They settled in Greece during the late Middle Ages and were the dominant population element of some regions of the Peloponnese and Attica until the 19th century...
, which today mostly have an ethnic Greek identity.
A diverse range of dialects
Languages of Greece
The official language of Greece is Greek. In addition, a number of non-official, minority languages and some Greek dialects are spoken as well. The most common foreign languages learned by Greeks are English, French, Spanish, Italian, and German.-Greek:...
are spoken in the prefecture alongside the official standard and local Macedonian varieties of Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
. Many people speak the local Macedonian Slavic dialects
Dialects of the Macedonian language
The dialects of Macedonian comprise the Slavic dialects spoken in the Republic of Macedonia as well as some varieties spoken in the wider geographic region of Macedonia. They exist as part of the dialect continuum of South Slavic languages that joins the Macedonian language with Bulgarian to the...
and especially the Lower Prespa dialect
Lower Prespa dialect
The Lower Prespa dialect , is a member of the western subgroup of the western group of dialects of the Macedonian language. This dialect is mainly spoken on the Eastern shore of Prespa Lake and Small Prespa Lake, both in the Republic of Macedonia and by the Slavic-speaking community on the Greek...
and the Prilep-Bitola dialect
Prilep-Bitola dialect
The Prilep-Bitola dialect is a member of the central subgroup of the western group of dialects of the Macedonian language. This dialect is spoken in much of the Pelagonia region , as well as by the Macedonian-speaking minority population in and around Florina in neighbouring Greek Macedonia...
.
Agriculture
Florina is rich in agriculture. The main production are peppersCapsicum
Capsicum is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Its species are native to the Americas where they have been cultivated for thousands of years, but they are now also cultivated worldwide, used as spices, vegetables, and medicines - and have become are a key element in...
, bean
Bean
Bean is a common name for large plant seeds of several genera of the family Fabaceae used for human food or animal feed....
s and peach
Peach
The peach tree is a deciduous tree growing to tall and 6 in. in diameter, belonging to the subfamily Prunoideae of the family Rosaceae. It bears an edible juicy fruit called a peach...
es. Beans are produced near Lake Prespa.
Transport
- GR-2Greek National Road 2The National Road 2 in Greece is a single carriageway with at-grade intersections in the regions of Macedonia and Thrace. It is often confused with the A2 Egnatia Odos, which is a motorway/freeway and is similarly numbered as .Parts of the road belong to european route E86....
, E, Cen., W - GR-3Greek National Road 3Greek National Road 3 begins from Eleusis and heads north, passing Larissa, Florina and terminates at the border with the Republic of Macedonia in Niki, which from there links with the M3. The road is part of the E65. In the late 1980s, motorway bypasses have been constructed for the towns...
, NE - GR-15Greek National Road 15Greek National Road 15 is a national highway of Greece. It passes through Kalambaka, Grevena, Neapoli and Kastoria....
, SW, W
See also
- List of settlements in the Florina prefecture
- Archaeological Museum of Florina
- Florina Byzantine Museum
- Florina Museum of Modern ArtFlorina Museum of Modern ArtThe Florina Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Florina in Greece. It was founded by the Florina Art Centre in 1977. It is housed in a neoclassical building by the Skouleva river. The museum's collection is composed of 480 works by 254 artists, which includes paintings, sculptures and engravings...
- Pisoderi ski centerPisoderiPisoderi is a village 17 km west of Florina, Greece. It hosts one of the oldest ski resorts in Greece.First mentioned in an Ottoman defter of 1481, the village, then known as Ipsoder, had only twelve households....
- Lake PrespaLake PrespaPrespa is the name of two freshwater lakes in southeast Europe, shared by Greece, Albania, and Macedonia. Of the total surface area, belongs to Macedonia, to Greece and to Albania...
External links
- Florina Prefecture
- http://www.mcm.aueb.gr/ment/spetses/Koutsompogera-Manolopoulou/FLORINA.htm