Attica

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This article is about Attica in Greece. For other Atticas, see Attica (disambiguation).

Attica Periphery Περιφέρεια Αττικής


Capital	Athens
Prefectures	Athens East Attica Piraeus West Attica
Population	3,841,408 (2005)
Area	3,808 km²
Population density	1,009/km²
Website

Attica (in Greek: Αττική, Attike; see also List of traditional Greek place names) 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 3,800 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.

[edit] Geography

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.

[edit] Climate

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 disruptions in parts of Attica, with the latest cases being in January 2002, February 2004 and January 2006. However, these disruptions are hardly ever widespread for the whole of the region of Athens. The absolute minimum temperature of the region is -10.4C and was recorded at Votanikos, Athens, while the highest temperature was recorded in Elefsina and was +48.0C. Forest fires and flash floods are common.

[edit] History

The process of the unification of Attica by Athens is not entirely clear, but it concluded at some point in the first half of the 7th century BC when Eleusis and the surrounding plains were joined to the Athenian state, and its inhabitants became citizens. Even then, the boundaries were not fixed, as Athens struggled with Megara for control of Salamis, and with Boeotia over border towns like Oropus for centuries. See History of Athens.

Attica later became part of (successively) the Roman and Byzantine Empires, the crusader Duchy of Athens, and the Ottoman Empire, until the Greek War of Independence.

[edit] Transportation

[edit] Roads and Highways

The area is connected by roads and highways:

Greek National Road 1 (motorway)
Greek National Road 3 (old highway of Athens-Thessaloniki)
Greek National Road 8 (old highway linking Patras, the Peloponnese and Athens)
Greek National Road 8A (motorway)
Greek National Road 79
Greek National Road 83 (Marathonos Avenue)
Greek National Road 89
Greek National Road 91
Attiki Odos, number 6 (privately owned motorway), gradually opened from 2001 to 2004
- Hymettus Ring (number 64), opened in 2004
- Egaleo Ring (number 65), opened in 2004, still under construction in its southern part.

[edit] Ferry lines

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

[edit] Other

Athens Mass Transit System
- Athens Metro
- Proastiakos
- Transit System (Attica)

[edit] Communications

[edit] Television

Mega Channel - Athens
Antenna TV - Athens
Star Channel - Athens
Alpha TV - Athens
Alter Channel - Athens
902 TV - Athens
High TV - Athens
Magic Peiraia - Piraeus

[edit] Radio

98.7 bossfm-xalkida:98.7 FM http://www.bossfm.gr
87.7 En Lefko - Athens: 87.7 FM http://www.877.gr
88.3 Village FM - Agios Ioannis Rentis (Athens) - 88.3 FM http://www.villagefm.com
90.2 Aristera sta FM - Athens: 90.1 FM http://www.902.gr
Antenna Radio - Athens: 97.2 FM http://www.antenna.gr
Athena 98.4 FM - Athens: 98.3 FM http://www.athina984fm.gr - Municipal Radio of the City of Athens
Atlantis FM - Athens: 105.2 FM http://www.atlantisfm.gr
Athens Radio Deejay - Athens: 95.2 FM http://www.radiodeejay.fm - Broadcasts nationally
Best Radio - Athens: 92.6 FM http://www.bestradio.gr
Diesi 101.3 - Athens: 101.3 FM http://www.diesifm.gr
Diva FM - Athens: 106.2 FM http://www.divafm.gr
Epikinonia FM - Athens: 94.0 FM http://www.94fm.gr - Municipal Radio of Neo Iraklio
ERT Radio - public - Athens: http://www.ert.gr
Filia 107 FM - public - Athens: 107.0 FM/665 am - http://www.ert.gr
Flash 96 - Athens: 96.0 FM http://www.flash.gr - Broadcasts nationally
Galaxy 92 - Athens: 92.0 FM http://www.galaxy92.gr
Jeronimo Groovy FM - Athens: 88.9 FM http://www.jeronimogroovy.com
Kosmos 93.6 - Athens: public - 93.6 FM http://www.kosmos936.gr
Melodia FM - Athens: 99.2 FM http://www.melodia.gr
NET 105.8 - Athens: 105.8/91.6 FM/729 MW - http://www.ert.gr - Broadcasts Nationally
Nitro Radio - Athens: 102.5 FM http://www.nitroradio.gr
Oasis FM - Athens: 88.0 FM http://www.oasisfm.gr
Orange 93.2 FM - Athens: 93.2 FM http://www.orange932.gr
Planet FM - Athens: 99.5 FM
Polis 88.6 FM - Athens: 88.6 FM http://www.polisfm.gr
Profit FM - Athens: 96.6 FM
Radio 98 FM - Athens: 98.0 FM http://www.radio98fm.gr - Free pirate radio of Athens
Radio Gold - Athens: 103.3 FM http://www.radiogold.com
Radio Greece - Athens: via satellite - http://www.radiogreece.gr
Radio Sfera - Athens: 102.2 FM http://www.sfera.gr - Broadcasts nationally
Red FM - Athens: 96.3 FM http://www.redfm.gr
Rhythmos FM - Athens: 94.9 FM http://www.rythmosfm.gr
Rock FM 96.9 - Athens: 96.9 FM http://www.rockfm.gr
Skai Radio - Athens: 100.3/100.6 FM http://www.skairadio.gr - Broadcasts Nationally
Soho Radio - Athens: 89.8 FM http://www.sohoradio.gr
Sportime FM - Athens: 89.2 FM
Supersport FM - Athens: 94.6 FM http://www.sport-fm.gr - Broadcasts nationally
Superstar FM - Athens: 98.6 FM
Xenios FM - Athens: 94.3 and 97.4 FM http://www.xenios943.gr - Municipal Radio of Ano Liosia

In March, 2001, the Greek government shut down approximately 60 of the 90+ FM radio stations in the Athens area, citing interference to frequencies to be used by the new Athens International Airport, though it is largely believed (and much evidence supporting this exists) that the government shut down these stations as a political favor to powerful publishing and media groups, whose stations, for the most part, remained on the air. In 2002, 8 of these stations reopened, and in 2004, a few more stations reopened.