Epirus (Greek region)

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Epirus region
Περιφέρεια Ηπείρου
Kreta Albanien Nordmazedonien Bulgarien Türkei Nördliche Ägäis Südliche Ägäis Ionische Inseln Peloponnes Attika Athos Westgriechenland Epirus |Thessalien Westmakedonien Zentralmakedonien Ostmakedonien und Thrakien MittelgriechenlandLocation of the Epirus region within Greece
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Basic data
State : Greece
Surface: 9,203 km²
Residents: 336,856 (2011)
Population density: 38.45 inhabitants per km²
Capital: Ioannina
Regional districts : 4th
Municipalities : 18th
NUTS 2 code : EL54
Website : www.php.gov.gr

Epirus ( modern Greek Ήπειρος Ípiros ( f. Sg. ); Ancient Greek Ἤπειρος Ḗpeiros , German “mainland, continent” ; Albanian  Epir [-i] ) is a region in northwestern Greece . It covers the southern half of the ancient landscape of Epirus , the northern part of which today belongs to Albania . Epirus borders the Ambracian Gulf and the Aetolia-Acarnania landscape to the south, and Thessaly and Western Macedonia to the east , from which it is separated by the Pindus Mountains . In the west, the coast of the Ionian Sea forms the border. The capital of the region is Ioannina . Today's Greek region covers an area of ​​9,200 square kilometers, has about 350,000 inhabitants and is divided into the regional districts of Arta , Ioannina , Preveza and Thesprotia .

geography

Epirus has a mountainous character. In the northwest, the 2045  m high Keraunian Mountains (Albania) drop steeply to the sea. In the far north on the border with Albania is the 2520  m high Grammos , further south the second highest mountain in Greece, the 2637 m high Smolikas. Between this mountain and Ioannina, the 2497 m high Tymfi delimits the Vikos-Aoos National Park. The mountains belonging to the east of the Pindus, such as the Lakmos , reach a height of up to 2295 m. The inner mountains are broken by a number of rivers.

Almost all Epirotic rivers, the Inachos (Aspropótamos), Arachthos (Arta), Acheron (Phanariótikos) and Thyamis (Kalamás), have a north-south orientation. Only the Aoos (Vjosa) flows to the northwest, via Albania into the Adriatic .

The whole country is rich in water and forests. It thrive and a. Oak , beech , pine and fir forests as well as olives on the coasts and in the plains .

history

View over the roofs of Metsovo to the surroundings

See Ancient History: Epirus (historical region)

When Greece became independent, Epirus remained with the Ottoman Empire. It was not until the Balkan Wars of 1912/13 that the Greeks were able to join most of Epirus to their state, while the north with Saranda , Delvina , Gjirokastra and Korça fell to Albania .

With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Albania , which had just become independent, fell apart . In March 1915, joined the Entente -Mächte an agreement, according to which Italy most of Albania, Greece but Northern Epirus should receive. But the Albanians were able to drive out the Greek occupation troops after the end of the war.

From Albania, annexed in April 1939, the troops of Fascist Italy invaded Greece in 1940, but were repulsed. In return, the Greeks were able to occupy northern Epirus and southern Albania. When Germany entered the war in the Balkans in April 1941, the situation changed. Yugoslavia and Greece were soon defeated by the Axis powers , and Epirus fell under Italian occupation . The mountains of Epirus became one of the main regions of the Greek resistance to the occupiers. Even in the Greek civil war , Epirus was hotly contested.

population

Epirus was settled by Slavic tribes during the early Middle Ages, but the extent of their settlement is difficult to gauge as it has left little traces other than place names. Wlachians and Albanians are not reported in the region until the 12th century. After the Fourth Crusade , Epirus became a refuge for many Greeks from other parts of the former Byzantine Empire, and in late Byzantine times (14th – 15th centuries), Epirus became the target of mass Albanian immigration, leaving large parts of the inland in the late 14th century were settled by Albanian tribes, and short-lived Albanian principalities ruled over much of the region. During the existence of the Serbian Empire , Epirus was also ruled by the Serbs , but their settlement was sparse so they could easily be assimilated by the Greek majority. Italians exercised political influence and were present as rulers (among the Tocci ) and traders, but they did not settle in Epirus in large numbers.

In the Ottoman period (after 1430) Islamization gradually took place, although the Orthodox Christians (Albanians, Greeks and Wlaks) made up the majority of the population until the end of the Turkish rule. According to statistics from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Albanians made up the majority of the population in the entire Vilâyet Ioannina (later Greek Epirus and southern Albania) with around 60%, while Greeks made up about a third (mainly in the east and south around Ioannina as well as in Northern Epirus ) and Wlachen made up 6–8% of the total population. In what is now the Greek region, the Albanians were mainly concentrated along the coast ( Çamëria ), the Greeks in the interior and the Wlachen on the Pindus Mountains.

The Greek-speaking nomadic people of the Sarakatsans operate remote grazing between Bulgaria, Macedonia and Greece. The members of this ethnic group meet every year in the hut village of Giftókampos (near Tsepelovo) on the first weekend in August to celebrate.

The Çamen were expelled from their settlement area to Albania in 1944 by the resistance group EDES due to the collaboration of some Albanians with the Italian-German occupying power .

According to surveys by ELSTAT from 2011, over 94% Greeks live in the region . Most of the Greek Epirots profess the Orthodox Church .

Regional districts and municipalities

The Epirus region is divided into four regional districts, which correspond to the areas of the prefectures that existed until 2010. In proportion to their population, they send a certain number of MPs to the 51-member regional council.

Regional district Residents Seats on the regional council Communities
Arta 67,877 11 Arta , Georgios Karaiskakis , Kendrika Tzoumerka , Nikolaos Skoufas
Ioannina 167.901 24 Dodoni , Ioannina , Konitsa , Metsovo , Pogoni , Voria Tzoumerka , Zagori , Zitsa
Preveza 57,491 9 Parga , Preveza , Ziros
Thesprotia 43,587 7th Filiates , Igoumenitsa , Souli

economy

Green hills in the Zagorochoria region, Epirus

Epirus is one of the poorest regions in Greece today. Industry and intensive agriculture are concentrated around the capital Ioannina, where most of the population lives. Mainly olive oil and tobacco are grown for export. Fishing, on the other hand, offers only a few people jobs and tourism is poorly developed compared to other Greek regions. The main attractions for vacationers are the coastal regions between Parga and Preveza and the mountain regions around the Tsoumerka and the Tymfi massif with the Vikos-Aoos National Park . Here you will find traditional villages such as Sbokia , but especially the Zagorochoria .

However, the port city of Igoumenitsa has developed into Greece's largest gateway to Western Europe. Thousands of holidaymakers use the journey to western Greece via Italy.

In 2006, the regional gross domestic product per inhabitant, expressed in purchasing power standards , was 70.6% of the EU-27 average .

In 2017 the unemployment rate was 24.8% and was thus above the national average.

literature

  • NGL Hammond: Epirus. The Geography, the Ancient Remains, the History and the Topography of Epirus and adjacent Areas . Oxford / New York 1981, ISBN 0-405-14058-4 .
  • Thede Kahl, Andreas Karzis (Ed.): Ηπειρώτικα παραμύθια - fairy tales from Epirus . Thessaloniki / Cologne 2006, ISBN 3-929889-83-8 (bilingual edition Greek-German. With a foreword by the Greek President Karolos Papoulias and drawings by Ioannis Chryssos).

Web links

Wikivoyage: Epirus  - travel guide

Individual evidence

  1. a b Results of the 2011 census. ( Memento from June 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) ( MS Excel ; 2.6 MB) National Statistical Service of Greece (ΕΛ.ΣΤΑΤ)
  2. a b Brendan Osswald: The Ethnic Composition of Medieval Epirus . (PDF; 319 kB) In: Steven G. Ellis, Lud'a Klusáková: Imaging frontiers, contesting identities . 2007, ISBN 978-88-8492-466-7 , pp. 125-154
  3. Kokkolakis, Michalis. Το ύστερο Γιαννιώτικο Πασαλίκι: χώρος, διοίκηση και πληθυσμός στην τουρκοκρατούμενη Ηπειρirus (under the rule of Spain 1820) πειρirus (1820-1913) in the administration of Spain . Center for Modern Greek Studies, 2003. ISBN 960-7916-11-5 , pp. 47-60
  4. ^ Latermann, Karbe, Kretzschmar: Greece (Kosmos-Nature Travel Guide). Kosmos-Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-440-08476-0 , p. 99.
  5. Statistics on statistics.gr (Greek)
  6. circular no. 19 to the conduct of the elections of 7 November 2010 for the regional authorities ( Greek Εγκύκλιος υπ 'αριθμ. 19 για τη διενέργεια των εκλογών της 7ης Νοεμβρίου 2010 για την ανάδειξη ΤΩΝ ΠΕΡΙΦΕΡΕΙΑΚΩΝ ΑΡΧΩΝ ). Greek Ministry of the Interior, Athens, August 2010, larisaionpolis.g ( Memento from September 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 557 kB)
  7. Eurostat regional yearbook 2009 . ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Chapter 4: Gross Domestic Product . eurostat.ec.europa.eu ( Memento of the original from January 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 5.4 MB) and eurostat.ec.europa.eu ( Memento of the original of July 3, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ( MS Excel ; 134 kB); ISSN 1830-9690 (registration with Eurostat is required). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu 
  8. Unemployment rate, by NUTS 2 regions. Retrieved November 5, 2018 .