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Florina (regional unit)

Coordinates:40°45′N21°25′E/ 40.750°N 21.417°E/40.750; 21.417
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Florina
Περιφερειακή ενότητα
Φλώρινας
Regional unit
Municipalities of Florina
Municipalities of Florina
Florina is located in Greece
Florina
Florina
Florina within Greece
Coordinates:40°45′N21°25′E/ 40.750°N 21.417°E/40.750; 21.417
CountryGreece
Geographic regionMacedonia
Administrative regionWestern Macedonia
SeatFlorina
Area
• Total1,924 km2(743 sq mi)
Population
(2021)[1]
• Total44,880
• Density23/km2(60/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+2(EET)
• Summer (DST)UTC+3(EEST)
Postal code
53x xx
Area code(s)238x0, 246x0
Vehicle registrationΡΑ
Websitewww.florina.gr

Florina(Greek:Περιφερειακή Ενότητα Φλώρινας,Perifereiakí Enótita Flórinas) is one of theregional units of Greece.It is part of theregionofWestern Macedonia,in thegeographic regionofMacedonia, Greece.Its capital is the town ofFlorina.The total population is around 45,000 (2021).

Geography[edit]

Pisoderiski resort
Lake Prespa

Florina borders the regional units ofPellato the east,Kozanito the south andKastoriáto the southwest. At the Greek international borders, it is adjacent toAlbania(Korçë County) to the west,North Macedonia(BitolaandResenmunicipalities) to the north andLake Prespato the northwest, where the two borders cross each other.Lake Vegoritidais situated in the east.

Mountains in the regional unit includeVerno(2,128 m or 6,982 ft),Varnous(2,117 m or 6,946 ft) andVoras(2,524 m or 8,281 ft).

Administration[edit]

Florina
Nymfaio

As from 2011 the regional unit of Florina is subdivided into three municipalities. These are (number as in the map in the infobox):[2]

Prefecture[edit]

Florina was created as aprefecture(Greek:Νομός Φλώρινας,Nomós Flórinas) in 1915. As a part of the2011 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.[2]

New municipality Old municipalities Seat
Amyntaio Amyntaio Amyntaio
Aetos
Variko
Lechovo
Nymfaio
Filotas
Florina Florina Florina
Kato Kleines
Meliti
Perasma
Prespes Prespes Laimos
Krystallopigi

Demographics[edit]

The demographic composition of the area the 19th and early 20th centuries is unclear as many factors contributed to the ethnic orientation of the people; out of these religion was particularly important thus giving rise to a proselytism struggle between the GreekEcumenical Patriarchate of Constantinopleand theBulgarian Exarchate(established in 1870). In 1886, 78.4% of the Christian population of the Florinakaza(district) - a part ofManastir Vilayet(province) - was aligned with the Ecumenical Patriarchate and 21.6% with the Bulgarian Exarchate, however by 1900 the Patriarchatists had dropped to 50.9% and Exarchatists had risen to 49.1%.[3]In 1914 the majority of the Christian population of the Florina district was recorded as Exarchist Bulgarian (59%), 70% of whom were monolingual in Bulgarian only.[4]

The 1920s was a period of migration, displacement, deportation and a voluntary exchange of populations between Greece and Bulgaria, during which the Greek government aimed to remove Slavic-speakers with fanatic Bulgarian sentiments from Greek Macedonia.[5]In 1925, according to the Prefect of Florina 52% of the population were schismatics (up from about 20% in 1886), 25% were Patriarchists, 15% wererefugees,6% were Vlachs (Aromanians) and 3% were indigenous Greeks.[6]According to government sources, in 1925 there were 45,527 Slav speakers, of whom 34,234 former Exarchists and 11,293 former Patriarchists; 7449 Greek refugees; 3590 Vlachs (Aromanians); 1882 indigenous Greeks; 349 Jews and 27 Muslim Albanians.[7]According to Kollopoulos in 1925 the recorded Slav Macedonians were 64,465 and constituted 64% of the population of the district of Florina, of whom 28,673 were schismatic.[8]The 1928 census showed 38,562 Slavic speakers in the nome of Florina or 31% of the population, but according to contemporary Greek authors the numbers of this census "clearly" do not reflect the actual strength of the minority as a result of official policy and Greek government of reluctance.[9]According to the Prefect of Florina, P. Kalligas, in 1930 there were 76,370 (61%), of whom 61,950 (49% of the population) lacked Greek consciousness, while his successor V. Balkos estimates those speaking Bulgarian as 75-80% of the population of the nome in 1931.[9]According to the Prefect of Florina, in 1935 of 11,683 families 56% had Slavic national consciousness, while 41.3% were "foreign speakers" with Greek national consciousness.[10]

According to the 2021 census, the population of Florina regional unit was 44,880 people.[1]The localGreekpopulation includes a linguistic minority of bilingualSlavophones,who in the early 1990s formed about 64% of the rural population and about 16% of the prefecture's total population.[11][12]Anastasia Karakasidouestimated that 80% of the population of Florina Prefecture is either Slavic-speaking or descended from Slavic-speaking families.[13]There are also around 1,200 Slavophones—approximately 2% of the local population—who profess anethnic Macedonianidentity.[14]There also exist smaller communities ofAromaniansandArvanites,which today mostly have an ethnic Greek identity.

A diverse range ofdialectsare spoken in the regional unit alongside the officialstandardand localMacedonianvarieties ofGreek.[15]A minority of people speak the localethnic Macedoniandialectsand especially theLower Prespa dialectand thePrilep-Bitola dialect.

Agriculture[edit]

Florina is rich in agriculture. The main production arepeppers,beansandpeaches.Beans are produced near Lake Prespa.

Transport[edit]

The main roads of Florina regional unit areGreek National Road 2(Albania-Krystallopigi- Florina -Edessa-...),Greek National Road 3(North Macedonia-Niki- Florina -Amyntaio-Kozani-...) andGreek National Road 15(Agios Germanos-Kastoria-...). TheThessaloniki–Bitola railwayruns through the regional unit, as of 2014 used by passenger trains between Florina andThessaloniki.[16]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ab"Αποτελέσματα Απογραφής Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2021, Μόνιμος Πληθυσμός κατά οικισμό"[Results of the 2021 Population - Housing Census, Permanent population by settlement] (in Greek). Hellenic Statistical Authority. 29 March 2024.
  2. ^ab"ΦΕΚ A 87/2010, Kallikratis reform law text"(in Greek).Government Gazette.
  3. ^Richard Clogg,Minorities in Greece: Aspects of a Plural Society,pp. 123-124
  4. ^Clogg, Richard (2002).Minorities in Greece: Aspects of a Plural Society.Hurst. p. 127.ISBN9781850657057.
  5. ^Clogg, Richard (2002).Minorities in Greece: Aspects of a Plural Society.Hurst. pp. 129–131.ISBN9781850657057.
  6. ^Clogg, Richard (2002).Minorities in Greece: Aspects of a Plural Society.Hurst. p. 132.ISBN9781850657057.
  7. ^Kontogiorgi, Elisabeth (2006).Population Exchange in Greek Macedonia: The Rural Settlement of Refugees 1922-1930.Clarendon Press. p. 250.ISBN9780191515552.
  8. ^Koliopoulos, Giannēs (1999).Λεηλασία Φρονημάτων: Το Μακεδονικό Ζήτημα Στα Χρόνια Της Κατοχής Και Του Εμφυλίου Πολέμου Στη Δυτική Μακεδονία, 1941-1949.Hurst. p. 39.ISBN9781850653813.
  9. ^abMavrogordatos, George Th (1983).Stillborn Republic: Social Coalitions and Party Strategies in Greece, 1922-1936.University of California Press. p. 247.ISBN9780520043589.The Prefect of Florina (P. Kalligas) to Venizelos, Report No. 3394, 26 February 1930, VA File 107. His alarmist successor estimates those speaking "Bulgarian" as 75-80% of the nome's population. See the Prefect of Florina (V. Balkos) to Venizelos, 10 March 1932, WA File 110. 68.
  10. ^Clogg, Richard (2002).Minorities in Greece: Aspects of a Plural Society.Hurst.ISBN9781850657057.
  11. ^Roudometof, Victor (2002).Collective Memory, National Identity, and Ethnic Conflict: Greece, Bulgaria, and the Macedonian Question.Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 124.ISBN0-275-97648-3.
  12. ^Usage des langues minoritaires dans les départements de Florina et d’Aridea (Macédoine); Riki Van Boeschoten
  13. ^Ammon, Ulrich (2006).Sociolinguistics: An International Handbook of the Science of Language and Society.Walter de Gruyter.ISBN9783110184181.
  14. ^In the 2009 European elections in Greece, 1,195 people from Florina Prefecture voted for theRainbow Party,which represents what it regards as theethnic Macedonianminority in Greece.[1]
  15. ^Van Boeschoten, Riki (2001)."Usage des langues minoritaires dans les départements de Florina et d'Aridea (Macédoine)".Strates(10).doi:10.4000/strates.381.S2CID161802924.
  16. ^Thessaloniki - Edessa - Florina railway schedule

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toFlorina Prefecture.
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