FLORINA

'Flórina' (), is a town in West Macedonia, Greece. It lies in the central part of Florina Prefecture, of which it is the capital. The Florina region reached from the Albania border all the way to Chalkidiki. The Florina belongs to the periphery of Western Macedonia. The town's population is estimated as some 12,622 people (1991 census). It is in a wooded valley about 13 km south of the border with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Contents

Geography

Name

History

Economy

Landmarks

Communications

Villages and Subdivisions

Notable persons

Historical population

References

External links

Geography

It is located east of Korçë, Albania and Lake Prespa, south of Bitola, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, west of Thessaloniki and Edessa, northwest of Larissa and Kozani, and northeast of Ioannina and Kastoria. The nearest airport is situated to the east. The mountains of Verno is to the southwest and Varnous to the northwest.
Florina is passed by GR-2 (Lake Prespa - Edessa) and GR-3/E65 (Kozani - Florina - Niki - Bitola). The historic ''Via Egnatia'' is situated to the east. The new GR-3 superhighway will run east of Florina.

Name

The city's original Byzantine name, Chlerinon (Χλέρινον - 'full of green vegetation'), derives from the greek word ''chlorós'' (χλωρός - fresh or green vegetation). The name was sometimes latinicized as Florinon (from latin ''Flora'' - vegetation), and this form became prevalent in the last years of the Byzantine Empire. In early Ottoman documents the forms Chlerina and Florina are both used, with the latter becoming standard after the 17th century. The Slavic name for the city (''Lerin'' - Лерин) also derives from Chlerinon with loss of inintial /h/ in the local dialect (compare with Macedonian Slav ''leb'' "bread" vs. Serbian ''hleb'').

History

Founded during the Byzantine period, Florina fell to the Ottoman Empire in the late 14th century. By the 18th century, its population was a mixture of Turks, Albanians, Greeks, and Bulgarians. In the late 19th century, it became a major centre of Slavic agitation for independence from the Ottoman Empire, but in 1912 it became part of Greece following the First Balkan War. Before Greek administration, it was part of Manastır vilayet in Ottoman Empire.
The town was contested again during the Second Balkan War, World War I, and World War II, during each of which it was occupied by Bulgaria.

Economy

Florina is a market town with an economy dominated by cross-border trading and the sale of local produce (especially grain, grapes, and vegetables). It also has textile mills and is known for locally manufactured leather handicrafts. It also has a University that has recently changed from being a branch of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, to a part of the University of West Macedonia.

Landmarks

★ Florina Archaeological Museum, [1]

★ Florina Byzantine Museum, [2]

★ Florina Museum of Modern Art, [3]

Communications

===Radio===

★ ERA Florinas - an ERA affiliate,

★ website

★ http://www.kanali3.gr/

★ http://www.radioflorina.gr/

★ http://www.e-radio.gr/

Villages and Subdivisions

★ Nymfaion

★ Drosopigi, Florina (Δροσοπηγή)

★ Armenochori (Αρμενοχώρι)

★ Koryfi (Κορυφή)

★ Mesonissi (Μεσονήσι)

★ Proti (Πρώτη)

★ Skopia (Σκοπιά)

★ Trivouni (Τρίβουνο, 2005 pop: 10)

★
★ village (2001 pop: 5)

★
★ Kalogeritsa (Καλογερίτσα, 2001 pop: 5)

Notable persons

★ Augoustinos Kantiotes - Metropolitan of Florina.

★ Kostas Loutsas - Painter

★ Necati Cumalı - Turkish novelist, short-story writer and poet

Historical population

Year	Population	Change	Municipal population	Change	Density
'1981'	12,573	-	-	-	-
'1991'	12,355	-218/-1,73%	14,873	-	98.76/km²
'2003'	-	-	14,318	-	95.07/km²

References

★ ''The Columbia Encyclopedia'', 2004

★ ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2005

★ ''The Penguin Encyclopedia of Places'', 1999

★ ''Rough Guide to Greece'', Mark Ellingham ''et al'', 2000

External links

★ City of Florina

★ .