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Birthplace of Aristotle, Alexander the Great,
Protagoras and Democritos, the region of
Macedonia and Thrace, that is often referred as
northern Greece, is a region with great historical
importance and a destination with dynamic
commercial life and great leisure and business
opportunities.
W
ith a population that exceeds the 4.000.000
inhabitants, Macedonia is the largest region
and the second most populated region in
Greece. The geographical borders of
Macedonia and Thrace are Albania, FYROM
(Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia),
Bulgaria, and Turkey. In the region of Macedonia the self
governed monastic state of Mount Athos, an area of 335.637
square meters, is also included. The area is located in the
easternmost leg of Chalkidiki peninsula and is under the spiritual
jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and is inaccessible to
women.
The region of Thrace is located in the north-eastern tip of Greece
and is designating a region bounded by the Balkan and Rhodope
Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south and Turkey
to the east.
Thrace includes the prefectures of Evros, Rodopi and Xanthi with
a population of approximately 400.000 inhabitants. The historical
boundaries of Thrace have varied. Noteworthy is the fact that, at
an early date, the ancient Greeks employed the term “Thrace” to
refer to all of the territory which lay north of Thessaly inhabited by
the Thracians, a region which “had no definite boundaries” and to
which other regions were added.
T HE S S A LON I K I : A C I T Y W I T H GRE A T POT EN T I A L
The name of the region of Macedonia derives from the tribal
name of the ancient Macedonians. According to the Greek
historian Herodotus, the Makednoi, were a Dorian tribe that
stayed behind during the great southward migration of the
Dorians.
Thessaloniki founded in 315 BC on the site of the ancient Greek
town of Therma by King Kassandros of Macedonia, who named
so after his wife Thessalonike, half-sister of Alexander the Great.
The city subsequently gained the reputation of being Mother of
Macedonia, and became a significant commercial centre. It was
considered to be the second most important city in the Byzantine
Empire.
Thessaloniki, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital
of the region of Macedonia. According to the last census, the
municipality of Thessaloniki had a population of 363.987 citizens.
Thessaloniki is Greece’s second major economic, industrial,
commercial and political centre, and a major transportation hub
for the rest of south-eastern Europe; its commercial port is also of
great importance for Greece and the south-eastern European
hinterland. The city is renowned for its events and festivals, the
MEETINGREECE
74
MACEDONIA - THRACE
Where civilizations
meet