Attica

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Attiki)
Jump to: navigation, search
Attica Periphery
Περιφέρεια Αττικής
Location of Attica Periphery in Greece
 
Country: Greece
Capital: Athens
Prefectures: Athens
East Attica
Piraeus
West Attica
Population: 3,841,408 (2005)
Area: 3,808 km² (1,470 sq.mi.)
Density: 1,009 /km² (2,613 /sq.mi.)
Website: www.attiki.gov.gr

Attica (Greek: Αττική, Attiki) is a periphery (subdivision) in Greece, containing Athens, the capital of Greece. Attica is subdivided into the prefectures of Athens, Piraeus, East Attica and West Attica.

Attica is located in what is today Southern Greece, and covers about 3,808 square kilometers. In addition to Athens, it contains within its area the cities of Peiraeus, Eleusis, Megara, Laurium, and Marathon, as well as a small part of the Peloponnese peninsula and the islands of Salamis, Aegina, Poros, Hydra, Spetses, Kythira, and Antikythera. About 3,750,000 people live in the periphery, of which more than 95% are inhabitants of the Athens metropolitan area.

Athens was originally the capital of Central Greece.

Contents

Map of ancient Attica
Map of ancient Attica

Attica is a peninsula jutting into the Aegean Sea. Mountains divide the peninsula into the plains of Pedia, Mesogeia, and Thriasia. The mountains include Hymettus, the eastern portion of Geraneia, Parnitha, Aigaleo and the Penteli mountains. To the north it is bordered by the Boeotian plain and to the west it is bordered by Corinth. The Saronic Gulf lies to the south and the island of Euboea lies off the north coast. Athens' first and only large reservoir, Lake Marathon, is about 42 km northeast and is called the Marathon Dam, which first opened in the 1920s. Since that time, it has been Attica's largest lake. Forests cover the area around Parnitha, around Hymettus and into the northeast and the north in the hills and the mountains, except for the mountaintops, but the mountains to the west and the south are grassy, barren or forested.

The Cephisus River is the longest river, and Parnetha or Parnitha is the tallest mountain in Attica. The prefecture also has parklands in the Hymettus, Penteli and the Parnitha mountains and the southern part of the peninsula.

According to Plato, Attica's ancient boundaries were fixed by the Isthmus, and that in the direction of the continent they extended as far as the heights of Cithaeron and Parnes. The boundary line came down in the direction of the sea, having the district of Oropus on the right, and with the river Asopus as the limit on the left.

The Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, the southernmost point of the Attica Periphery, was built c.440 B.C.
The Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, the southernmost point of the Attica Periphery, was built c.440 B.C.

The climate is typically Mediterranean, with hot dry summers and generally low rainfall totals. Annual precipitation varies from 370 mm to over 1000 mm. Winters are cool and generally mild in the low-lying areas adjacent to the sea, but are harsher in the mountains. It is often the case that snowfalls cause disruption in areas of Attica, although these disruptions are hardly ever widespread for the whole of the region of Athens, with the latest cases being in January 2002, February 2004 and January 2006. The absolute minimum temperature of the region is -10.4C and was recorded at Votanikos, Athens, while the highest temperature was recorded at Tatoi (airport) and was +48.7C. Forest fires and flash floods are common.

The area is connected by roads and highways:

Numerous ferry lines, both normal ferries and the "flying dolphins" (fast sea vessels), connect the port of Piraeus with the islands of the periphery.

The former provinces in italics no longer exist.

v • d • e
Peripheries of Greece
Attica • Central Greece • Central Macedonia • Crete • East Macedonia and Thrace • Epirus • Ionian Islands • North Aegean • Peloponnese • South Aegean • Thessaly • West Greece • West Macedonia • Mount Athos (autonomous region in Macedonia)
Flag of Greece
v • d • e
Regions of Greece
Flag of Greece

Coordinates: 38°05′N, 23°30′E

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attica"
Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.