Thessaloniki Metropolitan Area
The metropolitan area of Thessaloniki is a conurbation in northern Greece in the region of Central Macedonia. According to the metropolitan region of Attica, which includes Athens, it is the second largest metropolitan area or urban agglomeration in Greece.
It is composed from its center, the city or the municipality of Thessaloniki, and the bounding municipalities, all of which belong to the Regional District Thessaloniki. The metropolitan region of Thessaloniki extends to the northwest, north, northeast, east, southeast, south and southwest of the city of Thessaloniki around. To the west of the Thermaic Golf limits the expansion of the metropolitan area. To the east and southeast of the mountain range of the Chortiatis limits the expansion.
Traditionally, the metropolitan area of Thessaloniki has only been seen as the territory of the city of Thessaloniki and the immediately adjacent 12 urban and rural communities.
1913 Thessaloniki had 157 889 inhabitants. 1961 comprised the whole settlement, and thus the metropolitan area of Thessaloniki 380 648 inhabitants, 1971 557 360 inhabitants. 1971 was the metropolitan area of the Municipality of Thessaloniki Thessaloniki, five other municipalities and nine rural communities. Since the mid- 1990s, the metropolitan area of Thessaloniki is exposed to a strong trend towards urban sprawl: communities and settlements, which were previously rural character developed, and continue to develop in suburbs and dormitory towns. So eleven other urban and rural communities in the metropolitan area of Thessaloniki were allocated in addition to the 13 original.
In the territory of the former Municipality of Mikra ( in the southwest of Thessaloniki ) is the international airport of Thessaloniki.
List of municipalities of the metropolitan region
In the course of administrative reform in 2010, many communities were merged in Greece, the ancient communities since forming their municipal districts. 2014, referred to the entire regional district as, Metropolitan District Thessaloniki ' ( Mitropolitiki Enotita Thessaloniki ).