Pindus
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Pindus
The Pindus (also Pindos or Pindhos; el, Πίνδος, Píndos; sq, Pindet; rup, Pindu) is a mountain range located in Northern Greece and Southern Albania. It is roughly 160 km (100 miles) long, with a maximum elevation of 2,637 metres (8652') (Mount Smolikas). Because it runs along the border of Thessaly and Epirus, the Pindus range is known colloquially as the ''spine of Greece''. The mountain range stretches from near the Greek-Albanian border in southern Albania, entering the Epirus and Macedonia regions in northern Greece down to the north of the Peloponnese. Geologically it is an extension of the Dinaric Alps, which dominate the western region of the Balkan Peninsula. History of the name Historically, the name Pindos refers to the mountainous territory that separates the greater Epirus region from the regions of Macedonia and Thessaly. According to John Tzetzes (a 12th-century Byzantine writer), the Pindos range was then called Metzovon. When translated (bet ...
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Epirus
sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich Kiepert, 1902 , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Present status , subdivision_name = Divided between Greece and Albania [Baidu]  


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Sarakatsani
The Sarakatsani ( el, Σαρακατσάνοι, also written Karakachani, bg, каракачани) are an ethnic Greek population subgroup who were traditionally transhumant shepherds, native to Greece, with a smaller presence in neighbouring Bulgaria, southern Albania, and North Macedonia. Historically centred on the Pindus mountains and other mountain ranges in continental Greece, most Sarakatsani have abandoned the transhumant way of life and have been urbanised. Name The most widely accepted theory for the origin of the name "Sarakatsani" is that it comes from the Turkish word ''karakaçan'' (from ''kara'' = 'black' and ''kaçan'' = 'fugitive'), used by the Ottomans, in reference to those people who dressed in black and fled to the mountains during the Ottoman rule. According to another theory, the name derives from the village of Sakaretsi, the supposed homeland of the Sarakatsani. History and origin Despite the silence of the classical and medieval writers, scholars a ...
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Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the Geography of Greece, mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Sea of Crete and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin, featuring List of islands of Greece, thousands of islands. The country consists of nine Geographic regions of Greece, traditional geographic regions, and has a population of approximately 10.4 million. Athens is the nation's capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city, followed by Thessaloniki and Patras. Greece is considered the cradle of Western culture, Western civilization, being the birthplace of Athenian ...
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Tymfi
Tymphe (in Latin and English usage) or Tymfi (in the Greek government's preferred transliteration), Timfi, also Tymphi (, ) is a mountain in the northern Pindus mountain range, northwestern Greece. It is part of the regional unit of Ioannina and lies in the region of Zagori, just a few metres south of the 40° parallel. Tymphe forms a massif with its highest peak, Gamila, at . The massif of Tymphe includes in its southern part the Vikos Gorge, while they both form part of the Vikos–Aoös National Park which accepts over 100,000 visitors per year. The former municipality of the same name owed its name to the mountain. Etymology The exact meaning of the name is not known but has been in use since ancient times. The name "Tymphe" or "Stymphe" is mentioned by ancient geographer Strabo, Book 7, Ch. 7, and is associated with the ancient land of Tymphaea and the Tymphaeans, one of the tribes of Ancient Epirus. Despite its ancient use, the name does not appear in any descriptions of ...
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Epirus (region)
Epirus (; el, Ήπειρος, translit=Ípiros, ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region in northwestern Greece.Π.Δ. 51/87 “Καθορισμός των Περιφερειών της Χώρας για το σχεδιασμό κ.λ.π. της Περιφερειακής Ανάπτυξης” (''Determination of the Regions of the Country for the planning etc. of the development of the regions, Efimeris tis Kyverniseos ΦΕΚ A 26/06.03.1987'' It borders the regions of Western Macedonia and Thessaly to the east, West Greece to the south, the Ionian Sea and Ionian Islands to the west and Albania to the north. The region has an area of about . It is part of the wider historical region of Epirus, which overlaps modern Albania and Greece but lies mostly within Greek territory. Geography and ecology Greek Epirus, like the region as a whole, is rugged and mountainous. It comprises the land of the ancient Molossians and Thesprotians and a small part of the la ...
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Samarina
Samarina ( el, Σαμαρίνα, rup, Samarina, Xamarina, San Marina) is a village and a former municipality in Grevena regional unit, West Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Grevena, of which it is a municipal unit. Its population primarily consists of Aromanians (sometimes called Vlachs). It attracts many tourists due to its scenic location and beautiful pine and beech forests. The population was 378 people as of 2011. The municipal unit has an area of 97.245 km2 (37½ sq. mi.). Samarina is the most famous of all the Aromanian (Vlach) villages of the Pindus and the inhabitants are fiercely proud of their heritage and traditions. Every summer on August 15, on the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin, Samarinans from all over the world assemble on their ancestral village to celebrate. There, on the main square outside the Great Church, they perform the "Great Dance" (Greek: ''Tranós Chorós'', Aromanian: ''Corlu Mari ...
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Smolikas
Mount Smolikas ( el, Σμόλικας; rup, Smolcu) is a mountain in the Ioannina regional unit, northwestern Greece. At a height of 2,637 metres above sea level, it is the highest of the Pindus Mountains, and the second highest mountain in Greece after Mount Olympus. The mountain consists of ophiolite rocks. During several periods in the Pleistocene the northern and eastern cirques and valleys were glaciated. The last glaciers of this area retreated around 11,500 years ago. It is drained by the river Vjosa to the south, and the river Vourkopotamo (a tributary of the Sarantaporos) to the north. There is a small alpine lake called "Drakolimni Smolika" near the summit, at about 2,200 metres elevation. Nearby mountain ranges are Tymfi to the south, Gramos to the northwest, Vasilitsa to the southeast and Voio to the northeast. The higher elevations, above 2,000 metres, consist of grasslands and rocks, and there are deciduous and conifer forests at lower elevations. The mountain li ...
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Mount Smolikas
Mount Smolikas ( el, Σμόλικας; rup, Smolcu) is a mountain in the Ioannina regional unit, northwestern Greece. At a height of 2,637 metres above sea level, it is the highest of the Pindus Mountains, and the second highest mountain in Greece after Mount Olympus. The mountain consists of ophiolite rocks. During several periods in the Pleistocene the northern and eastern cirques and valleys were glaciated. The last glaciers of this area retreated around 11,500 years ago. It is drained by the river Vjosa to the south, and the river Vourkopotamo (a tributary of the Sarantaporos) to the north. There is a small alpine lake called "Drakolimni Smolika" near the summit, at about 2,200 metres elevation. Nearby mountain ranges are Tymfi to the south, Gramos to the northwest, Vasilitsa to the southeast and Voio to the northeast. The higher elevations, above 2,000 metres, consist of grasslands and rocks, and there are deciduous and conifer forests at lower elevations. The mountain li ...
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Aoös
The Vjosa (; indefinite form: ) or Aoös ( el, Αώος) is a river in northwestern Greece and southwestern Albania. Its total length is about , of which the first are in Greece, and the remaining in Albania. Its drainage basin is and its average discharge is . The main tributaries are Voidomatis, Sarantaporos, Drino and Shushicë. The river arises in the Pindus mountains of Epirus, Greece, and generally flows northwest. It enters Albania near Çarshovë, and empties into the Adriatic Sea just north of Vlorë. Generally wild and unpolluted, the river is surrounded by the Vikos–Aoös National Park in Greece and the Vjosa-Narta Protected Landscape near its mouth. In December 2020, the Albanian portion of the river was designated a "Managed Nature Reserve" by the government. There is a campaign by the environmentalist groups to designate the whole Albanian part of the course a national park, to guard against the prospective hydroelectric projects. Name The Vjosa is known b ...
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Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares land borders with Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south. Tirana is its capital and largest city, followed by Durrës, Vlorë, and Shkodër. Albania displays varied climatic, geological, hydrological, and morphological conditions, defined in an area of . It possesses significant diversity with the landscape ranging from the snow-capped mountains in the Albanian Alps as well as the Korab, Skanderbeg, Pindus and Ceraunian Mountains to the hot and sunny coasts of the Albanian Adriatic and Ionian Sea along the Mediterranean Sea. Albania has been inhabited by different civilisations over time, such as the Illyrians, Thracians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Venetians, and Ot ...
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Thessaly
Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia (, ), and appears thus in Homer's ''Odyssey''. Thessaly became part of the modern Greek state in 1881, after four and a half centuries of Ottoman rule. Since 1987 it has formed one of the country's 13 regions and is further (since the Kallikratis reform of 2011) sub-divided into five regional units and 25 municipalities. The capital of the region is Larissa. Thessaly lies in northern Greece and borders the regions of Macedonia on the north, Epirus on the west, Central Greece on the south, and the Aegean Sea on the east. The Thessaly region also includes the Sporades islands. Name and etymology Thessaly is named after the ''Thessaloi'', an ancient Greek tribe. The meaning of the name of this tribe is unknow ...
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Athamanika
Athamanika or Tzoumerka (Greek: Αθαμανικά or Τζουμέρκα) is a mountain range in northwestern Greece, part of the wider Pindus mountain range. Its highest point is the mountain Kakarditsa, at 2,429 m. Its length is approximately 40 km from north to south and its width is approximately 15 to 20 km from east to west. The only major road crossing the Athamanika is the Greek National Road 30 (Arta - Trikala - Karditsa - Volos). Geography The Athamanika is situated on the borders of the regional units of Arta, Ioannina, Karditsa and Trikala. It covers (part of) the municipalities North Tzoumerka, Central Tzoumerka, Pyli and Argithea. It has a low population density. Forests dominate the low-lying areas of the mountain. Grasslands, shrubs and barren rocks dominate the higher elevations. The main rivers draining the Athamanika are the Arachthos in the west, and the Achelous in the east. History The Athamanika mountain range became the main base of the ED ...
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