Northern Greece

Northern Greece ( el, Βόρεια Ελλάδα, Voreia Ellada) is used to refer to the northern parts of Greece, and can have various definitions.
Administrative regions of Greece

Administrative term

The term "Northern Greece" is widely used to refer mainly to the two northern regions of Macedonia and (Western) Thrace; thus the Thessaloniki-based Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace was known as "Ministry for Northern Greece" (Υπουργείο Βορείου Ελλάδος), and previously as the Governorate-General of Northern Greece (Γενική Διοίκηση Βορείου Ελλάδος), until 1988.

Broader term and NUTS usage

The term ''Lower Greece'' was mentioned in 16th century western correspondence when the region was under Ottoman rule, it included Northern Epirus and Western Macedonia.

The term Northern Greece may also, according to context, incorporate the region Epirus. When Epirus is included, it is broadly coterminous with the "New Lands" (Νέες Χώρες), i.e. the territories added to the Kingdom of Greece after the Balkan Wars of 1912–13, as opposed to pre-1912 "Old Greece" (Παλαιά Ελλάδα). This distinction survives in the ecclesiastical domain, where the dioceses of the "New Lands" ''de jure'' still adhere to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, but are ''de facto'' under the Church of Greece.

Voreia Ellada is also one of the four Greek NUTS regions, created for statistical purposes by the European Union. Until 2014, it encompassed the four administrative regions Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Central Macedonia, West Macedonia and Thessaly. Coming into effect in January 2015, the Greek NUTS regions were redefined, with Voreia Ellada now encompassing Epirus instead of Thessaly. This NUTS division is not used by Greece for any administrative purposes.

Linguistics

In linguistics, Northern Greece refers to the areas where the Northern Greek dialect is traditionally spoken, encompassing in addition to the previous regions Central Greece except for Attica, and the North Aegean, except Chios.

Maps

File:Map Greece expansion 1832-1947-en.svg, Territory evolution of Greece from 1832 to 1947. Land acquired after the Balkan Wars is shown in green (1913), orange (1923) and pink (1947).
File:ChurchInGreece.png, The religious jurisdictions of the Orthodox Church in Greece (in blue). The "New Lands" annexed by Greece after 1913 (in pink, red and purple) remain under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
File:Modern Greek dialects en.svg, Map showing the distribution of major Modern Greek dialect areas.Based on: Brian Newton: ''The Generative Interpretation of Dialect. A Study of Modern Greek Phonology'', Cambridge 1972, The dialect of Northern Epirus (not listed here) belongs to the southern varieties.

Northern Greece statistics

According to 2011 Eurostat data, Voreia Ellada, as defined until 2014, had a total population of 3,590,187 inhabitants.

References

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NUTS 1 statistical regions of Greece