Imathia Prefecture

Infobox Pref GR
name = Imathia
name_local = Νομός Ημαθίας
flag_reg = Flag of Greek Macedonia.svg


periph = Central Macedonia
capital = Veria
population = 144,835
population_as_of = 2005
pop_rank = 24th
pop_dens = 85.1
popdens_rank = 11th
area = 1,701
area_rank = 39th
postal_code = 59x xx
area_code = 233x0
licence = HM| provinces = 2
municip = 12
commun =
ISO =
website = [http://www.imathia.gr/ www.imathia.gr]

Imathia ( _el. Ημαθία) is one of the prefectures of Greece. It is located in the west-central part of Macedonia (Central Macedonia). The prefecture has two provinces. The prefecture is bounded with Pieria to the south, Kozani to the west, Pella to the north and Thessaloniki to the east. The delta of the Aliakmon which is the shortest boundary with the coastling with the Thermaic Gulf to the east.

The capital city of Imathia is the city of Veria (Verroia).

Municipalities

See also: List of settlements in the Imathia prefecture and Slavic toponyms of places in Imathia

Geography

Its geography include mountains are parts of Pierian Mountains to the southeast and the Vermion Mountains mountains to the west. Much of the area are the valley areas. The longest river is the Aliákmon river which flows to the south and east. The reservoir is partially bounded with Kozani. Its lowest point is the Thermian Gulf and the highest point is Vermio to the west

Imathia is bounded with the Piera prefecture to the south, the Kozani Prefecture (West Macedonia) to the west, the Pella to the north and the Thessaloniki Prefecture to the northeast.

History

The area around Imathia were first under Macedonian rule. Imathia was named from the area of the Thermian Gulf, a field which during the creation of the Kingdom of Macedonia, with the name known the area between the Aliakmon and Loudia. The ancient and classical Imathia included Edessa and Aiges, the ancient capital of Berroea, Kitio (Κίτιον, now Naoussa), etc.

Later, Imathia was annexed to the Roman rule and later the Byzantine rule, the Ottoman rule from the 1400s until the Balkan Wars of 1913. Unlike southcentral and central Greece, it only joined Greece during the Balkan Wars and the treaties of Bucharest and London. The population exploded and several farmlands were expanded and its street plan were more gridded and modernized than the south, Veria received electricity, its major roads became paved. During the Greco-Turkish War, several refugees from Asia Minor (now in Turkey) arriving in Imathia and built refugee camps and houses, several villages after their former villages were founded. Imathia experienced World War II and saw damages to most of the homes and properties. It was experienced again during the Greek Civil War and finally ended the wartime period for the area. For the first 34 years of being a Greek soil, Imathia was not a prefecture until 1947 and Verroia was selected the prefectural capital, until that time, it belonged to the Thessaloniki prefecture.

Imathia yet again saw a small growth in the 1950s and the 1960s but the growth slowed due to emigration. The villages saw their roads paved, their homes received electricity, more automobiles, radioes and appliances were added. Television arrived in the 1970s and the 1980s for the rural portion, the GR-1 was completed in 1972. In the 1980s, it saw the first construction of the Via Egnatia superhighway and it became the second superhighway in the prefecture with two undivided lanes, between 1998 and 2005, the superhighway added two more lanes and became divided, it also extended to the prefectural boundary with Kozani along with some tunnels.

The beginning of the 21st century saw a climbing unemployment rate, a minor population loss and some immigration. The population has been in a declining and a steady mode since the New Democracy came to power.

On May 24, 2007, a low pressure system that came from southern and central Europe brought in a hailstorm to Imathia, they were nearly the size of golf balls. It damaged crops including the popular peach crops, tomatoes, potatoes, watermelon, cotton, apples, pears and more.

Agriculture

The agriculture are rich in peach crops and some strawberries and the production is large. The jam Naousa is the main and famous production of agriculture and jams.

Climate

Its climate is mainly of Mediterranean climate with hot summers and cold winters. In most of the central part and the western part receives winter weather especially in the hills and the Vermio mountains.

Transport

*GR-1, E, SE (length: 1 to 2 km)
*GR-4, SW, Cen., NE
*Via Egnatia/E90, SW, S Cen., SE

Media

Newspapers

*Agrotikoi Orizontes
*Elefthero Vima
*Epikaira Imathias
*Epta Imathias
*Imerisia
*Kerkida
*Laos
*Pliroforisi

porting clubs

*AE Alexandreia - Alexandreia
*Apostolos Pavlos Enosis - Veria

External links

* [http://www.iwmn.net Asyrmato Mitropolitiko Dyktio Hmathias] ,The local wireless network
* [http://www.imathia.gr/ Oficial website]
* [http://11dim-veroias.ima.sch.gr/region-geography.htm Verroia 11th Public School]