Ioannina (regional unit)

Regional Unit Ioannina Περιφερειακή Ενότητα Ιωαννίνων (Ιωάννινα)
Basic data
State :	Greece
Region :	Epirus
Area :	4,990 km²
Residents :	167,901 (2011)
Population density :	33.6 inhabitants / km²
NUTS 3 code no. :	EL543
Structure:	8 municipalities

The regional district of Ioannina ( Greek Περιφερειακή ενότητα Ιωαννίνων Periferiaki Enotita Ioanninon ) is the largest of the four regional districts of the Greek region of Epirus with the administrative seat Ioannina . From 1915 until the Greek administrative reform in 2010 , the area had the status of a prefecture , whose competencies were divided between the region and the numerically greatly reduced municipalities. With 24 out of 51 MPs, the regional district of Ioannina represents almost half of the MPs in the Epirotian regional council, but has no political significance of its own as a regional body other than as a constituency for the Greek parliament. It is divided into the municipalities of Dodoni , Ioannina, Konitsa , Metsovo , Pogoni , Voria Tzoumerka , Zagori and Zitsa .

geography

The Ioannina regional district forms the northeastern part of the Epirus region , its area roughly corresponds to the ancient landscape of Molossi .

The landscape is characterized by the north-south mountain ranges of the Pindos Mountains . The central part is occupied by a plain around Lake Pamvotida , on the western bank of which the city of Ioannina is located.

The north of the area borders on Albania . In addition to the mountain ranges of the Pindos Mountains that move from Albania to the south-southeast, the valley of the Aoos (Vjosa) river, which flows from east to west (then to the northwest), forms a prominent point in the landscape. The flora and fauna of both the mountains and the river valleys are relatively untouched; even bears can still be found here in the wild. In the north-easternmost part of the regional district lies the Grammos massif, to the east of which the Arena mountains. Only through the river Sarandaporos , which runs in an arc from east to south, these mountain ranges of the second highest mountain in Greece, the Smolikas with 2637 m above sea level. d. M., separately. South of the Smolikas, separated by the upper Aoos valley, the Tymfi massif joins (2295 m above sea level). The Tymfi massif is partially cut by the Voidomatis river , creating the Vikos gorge with rock walls up to 1000 m high. This is the core of the Vikos-Aoos National Park . To the northwest of the mountain massif, the valley of the Aoos widens first through the tributary of the Sarandaporos near Konitsa (located directly on the Trapesitza mountain as the southwest corner of the Smolikas massif), then through the tributary of the Voidomatis near Papingo . At the same time, it turns north-northwest and runs with the Aoos over the border to Albania, where the Aoos (Vjosa) flows into the Ionian Sea . To the southwest of the Tymfi and southwest of Papingo, the Mitsikeli mountain range rises , which forms the eastern boundary of the Ioannina plain and also belongs to the western North Pindus Mountains. The region south of the Aoos and east as well as the Sarandaporos with the massifs of Tymfi and Smolikas is called Zagoria .

The western limit of the Zagoria region is the Mitsikeli mountain range and its southern continuation, the Driskos . The southern limit of the Zagoria region is approximately the Metsovitikos River . This rises near Metsovo in the eastern part of the Ioannina regional district and leads through a narrow valley north of the Lakmos (Peristeri) to the southwest. At the junction between Mitsikeli and Driskos (Driskos Pass) the Metsovitikos flows together with the Dipotamia river and forms the Arachthos river, which continues to the south-southeast . To the east of the confluence, the Lakmos massif with the seamlessly adjacent Kakarditsa massif forms the continuation of the Pindos Mountains to the southeast and at the same time the southeastern part of Ioannina. With the exception of the area around the town of Metsovo, the east of the regional district is sparsely populated. The river Aoos rises north of Metsovo on a high plateau, the headwaters of which have been significantly redesigned by the O Pigon reservoir. South of Metsovo on the eastern flank of the Lakmos rises with the Aspropotamos, the most water-rich river in Greece, the Acheloos . East of Metsovo there is the Katarra Pass (Zygos Pass) at 1689 m above sea level, a transition across the Pindos massif to the northwestern part of Thessaly around Kalambaka .

The Arachthos and its valley lead to the southern part of the area. This is flanked to the east by the continuation of the Lakmos, the Tzoumerka massif at 2459 m above sea level. d. M. maximum height. The Tsoumerka massif also separates the water catchment areas of Acheloos in the east and Arachthos in the west. The Arachthos flows in a southerly direction to Arta, where it is dammed into a large reservoir in front of Arta . Parallel to the valley of the Arachthos and with the same direction of flow, the river Louros rises south of the plain of Ioannina on the eastern flank of the Tomaros . The valley of the Louros, like that of the Arachthos, leads south to the Ambracian Gulf. At the exit of the Louros valley into the plain around the Ambracian Gulf there is also the southern border of the Ioannina regional district towards the Arta regional district. To the southwest, the mountains in the west of the Louros Valley (south the Thesprotika Mountains, west the Souliou Mountains) delimit Ioannina to the regional districts of Preveza and Thesprotia . There is a small plateau between the Souliou Mountains and the Tomaros Massif southwest of Ioannina. This is delimited to the northeast from the Dodoni plain by the Tomaros massif. To the north of the plain of Dodoni with the ancient oracle of the same name, the northern continuations of the Souliou Mountains flow almost seamlessly into the Tsamanta Mountains in northwest Ioannina on the Albanian border. These mountains are only broken through by the valley of Kalamos ( Thyamis ), which runs from Tymfi and Mitsikeli in the east through the northwestern part of the regional district to the west through Thesprotia to the Ionian Sea.

literature

• Franz X. Bogner, Georgios Pilidis: Lake of Ioannina. Ioannina 2010.

Web links

• Official website of the prefecture (Greek, English).
• Aerial photos of the prefecture (Greek).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Results of the 2011 census at the National Statistical Service of Greece (ΕΛ.ΣΤΑΤ) ( Memento from June 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Excel document, 2.6 MB)