Florina (regional unit)

Florina Περιφερειακή ενότητα Φλώρινας
Regional unit
Municipalities of Florina
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Coordinates:
Country	Greece
Region	West Macedonia
Capital	Florina
Area
• Total	1,924 km2 (743 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	51,414
• Density	27/km2 (69/sq mi)
Postal codes	53x xx
Area codes	238x0, 246x0
ISO 3166 code	GR-63
Car plates	ΡΑ
Website	www.florina.gr

Florina (Greek: Περιφερειακή ενότητα Φλώρινας) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of West Macedonia. Its capital is the town of Florina.

Geography

Pisoderi ski resort

Lake Prespa

Florina borders the regional units of Pella to the east, Kozani to the south and Kastoriá to the southwest. At the Greek international borders, it is adjacent to Albania (Korçë County) to the west, the Republic of Macedonia (Bitola and Resen municipalities) to the north and Lake Prespa to the northwest, where the two borders cross each other. Lake Vegoritida is situated in the east.

Mountains in the regional unit include Verno (2,128 m or 6,982 ft), Varnous (2,117 m or 6,946 ft) and Voras (2,524 m or 8,281 ft).

Administration

Florina

Nymfaio

The regional unit Florina is subdivided into 3 municipalities. These are (number as in the map in the infobox):

• Amyntaio (2)
• Florina (1)
• Prespes (3)

Prefecture

Florina was created as a prefecture (Greek: Νομός Φλώρινας) in 1915. As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the regional unit Florina was created out of the former prefecture Florina. The prefecture had the same territory as the present regional unit. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below.

New municipality	Old municipalities	Seat
Amyntaio	Amyntaio	Amyntaio
	Aetos
	Variko
	Lechovo
	Nymfaio
	Filotas
Florina	Florina	Florina
	Kato Kleines
	Meliti
	Perasma
Prespes	Prespes	Laimos
	Krystallopigi

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, the population of Florina regional unit was 51,414 people. The local Greek population includes a linguistic minority of bilingual Slavophones, who in the early 1990s formed about 64% of the rural population and about 16% of the prefecture's total population. There are also around 1,200 Slavophones—approximately 2% of the local population—who profess an ethnic Macedonian identity. There also exist smaller communities of Aromanians and Arvanites, which today mostly have an ethnic Greek identity.

A diverse range of dialects are spoken in the regional unit alongside the official standard and local Macedonian varieties of Greek. Many people speak the local Macedonian Slavic dialects and especially the Lower Prespa dialect and the Prilep-Bitola dialect.

Agriculture

Florina is rich in agriculture. The main production are peppers, beans and peaches. Beans are produced near Lake Prespa.

Transport

The main roads of Florina regional unit are Greek National Road 2 (Albania - Krystallopigi - Florina - Edessa - ...), Greek National Road 3 (Republic of Macedonia - Niki - Florina - Amyntaio - Kozani - ...) and Greek National Road 15 (Agios Germanos - Kastoria - ...). The Thessaloniki–Bitola railway runs through the regional unit, as of 2014 used by passenger trains between Florina and Thessaloniki.

See also

• List of settlements in the Florina regional unit
• Archaeological Museum of Florina
• Florina Byzantine Museum
• Florina Museum of Modern Art
• Pisoderi ski resort

External links

• Florina Prefecture
• http://www.mcm.aueb.gr/ment/spetses/Koutsompogera-Manolopoulou/FLORINA.htm
• Νομοί: Φλώρινα at DMOZ (Greek)