Attica ( ; , ) is an administrative region of

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, that encompasses the entire

Athens metropolitan area The Athens metropolitan area () spans within the Attica region and consists of 58 municipalities plus parts of East Attica and West Attica, having reached a population of 3,638,281 according to the 2021 census. The municipalities of Athens an ...

, the core city of which is the country's

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

and

largest city The United Nations uses three definitions for what constitutes a city, as not all cities in all jurisdictions are classified using the same criteria. Cities may be defined as the cities proper, the extent of their urban area, or their metrop ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. The region is coextensive with the former Attica Prefecture of Central Greece and covers a greater area than the

historical region History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

Attica Attica (, ''Attikḗ'' (Ancient Greek) or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the entire Athens metropolitan area, which consists of the city of Athens, the capital city, capital of Greece and the core cit ...

Overview

Located on the eastern edge of Central Greece, Attica covers about 3,808 square kilometres. In addition to Athens, it contains within its area the cities of

Elefsina Elefsina () or Eleusis ( ; ) is a suburban city and municipality in Athens metropolitan area. It belongs to West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is located in the Thriasio Plain, at the northernmost end of the Saronic Gulf. North of Elefsina ...

Megara Megara (; , ) is a historic town and a municipality in West Attica, Greece. It lies in the northern section of the Isthmus of Corinth opposite the island of Salamis Island, Salamis, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, before being taken ...

, Laurium, and

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

, as well as a small part of the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...

peninsula and the islands of Salamis,

Aegina Aegina (; ; ) is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina (mythology), Aegina, the mother of the mythological hero Aeacus, who was born on the island and became its king. ...

, Angistri, Poros, Hydra,

Spetses Spetses (, "Pityussa") is an island in Attica, Greece. It is counted among the Saronic Islands group. Until 1948, it was part of the old prefecture of Argolis and Corinthia Prefecture, which is now split into Argolis and Corinthia. In ancient ...

Kythira Kythira ( ; ), also transliterated as Cythera, Kythera and Kithira, is an island in Greece lying opposite the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese peninsula. It is traditionally listed as one of the seven main Ionian Islands, although it is dist ...

, and

Antikythera Antikythera ( , ; , ) or Anticythera, known in antiquity as Aigilia (), is a Greek island lying on the edge of the Aegean Sea, between Crete and Peloponnese. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipality of Kythira isl ...

. About 3,790,000 people live in the region, of whom more than 95% are inhabitants of the

. In 2019, Attica had the HDI of 0.912, the highest in Greece.

Administration

The region was established in the 1987 administrative reform, and until 2010 it comprised the 4

prefectures A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

East Attica East Attica () is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Attica. The regional unit covers the eastern part of the urban agglomeration of Athens, and also the rural area to its east. Administration The regional unit East ...

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

and

West Attica West Attica () is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Attica. The regional unit covers the western part of the agglomeration of Athens, and the area to its west. Administration The regional unit West Attica is subdivi ...

. With the 2010

Kallikratis plan The Kallikratis Programme () is the common name of Greek law 3852/2010 of 2010, a major administrative reform in Greece. It brought about the second major reform of the country's administrative divisions following the 1997 Kapodistrias reform. ...

, the region's powers and authority were completely redefined and extended. Since 1 January 2011, the region represents the second-level local administration. While being supervised by the Decentralized Administration of Attica, it is now an independent

self-governing Self-governance, self-government, self-sovereignty or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority. It may refer to personal conduct or to any ...

body with powers and a budget comparable to the former

. The region is subdivided into eight subordinate regional units: * North Athens * West Athens * Central Athens * South Athens *

Islands This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water, and by other classifications. For rank-order lists, see the #Other lists of islands, other lists of islands below. Lists of islands by count ...

Electoral districts

The Attica region consists of eight

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

s: Athens A, Athens B1, Athens B2, Athens B3, Piraeus A, Piraeus B,

and

Major communities

* Acharnés (Αχαρνές) ''or'' Menídi () * Agía Paraskeví (Αγία Παρασκευή) * Ágios Dimítrios (Άγιος Δημήτριος) * Aigáleo (Αιγάλεω) * Alimos (Άλιμος) ''or'' Kalamaki () * Athína (Αθήνα) (Municipality of Athens) * Chalándri (Χαλάνδρι) * Galátsi (Γαλάτσι) * Glyfáda (Γλυφάδα) * Ílion (Ίλιον) (formerly ''Nea Liosia'') * Ilioúpoli (Ηλιούπολη) * Kallithéa (Καλλιθέα) * Keratsíni (Κερατσίνι) * Kifissia (Κηφισιά) * Korydallós (Κορυδαλλός) * Maroúsi (Μαρούσι) ''or'' Amaroúsion () * Néa Ionía (Νέα Ιωνία) * Néa Smýrni (Νέα Σμύρνη) * Níkaia (Νίκαια) * Palaió Fáliro (Παλαιό Φάληρο) * Peiraiás (Πειραιάς) (Piraeus in English) * Peristéri (Περιστέρι) * Výronas (Βύρωνας) * Zográfos (Ζωγράφος) ;See also *

List of municipalities and communities in Attica A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...

List of settlements in Attica This is a list of settlements in the region of Attica, Greece. Mainland Attica * Acharnes * Afidnes * Agia Paraskevi * Agia Varvara * Agioi Anargyroi * Agios Dimitrios * Agios Ioannis Rentis * Agios Konstantinos * Agios Stefanos * Aig ...

Demographics

The region has shrunk by 35,965 people between 2011 and 2021, experiencing a population loss of 0.9%.

Climate

Due to its large area Attica has a variety of climates. The largest part of the peninsula has a hot-summer

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: ''Csa''). Some areas of the Athens Riviera, areas of the

Thriasio Plain The Thriasio Plain () is a plain in western Attica within Athens metropolitan area in Greece. It is bounded by Mount Egaleo to the east, Mount Parnitha to the north, Mount Pateras to the west, and the Bay of Elefsina to the south. History ...

, Aigina, Hydra and some areas in west Attica have a

hot semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...

(

: ''BSh''). According to the meteorological stations of the

National Observatory of Athens The National Observatory of Athens (NOA; ) is a research institute in Athens, Greece. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest List of research institutes in Greece, research foundation in Greece. The Observatory was the first scientific research insti ...

and the Hellenic National Meteorological Service areas in the north have wetter and colder winters.

Parnitha Mount Parnitha (, , Katharevousa and ''Parnis''/''Parnes''; sometimes Parnetha) is a lightly forested mountain range north of Athens, the highest on the peninsula of Attica, with an elevation of 1,413 m, and a summit known as Karavola (Καρα� ...

mountain has a January average high of around 4°C and an average low below 0°C. Areas in the south mainland have very mild winters with

Nea Smyrni Nea Smyrni (, ''Néa Smýrni'', "New Smyrna") is a municipality and a town in South Athens, Greece. At the 2021 Greek census, 2021 census, it had 72,853 inhabitants. It was named after the former Greek city Smyrna (today's İzmir in Turkey), whe ...

recording a January average high close to 15°C and an average low of around 9°C. The islands of the Attica region have even milder winters with Hydra recording a January average low of over 10°C and falling in 11a

hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...

. The highest July and August temperatures are recorded in the interior of the Athens Basin and also in west areas with Nea Filadelfeia, Harokopio University and Salamina registering average summer highs over 35°C. Due to land breezes, summer nights can be particularly hot in the south and especially around

which records an average August low of around 27°C. The highest average annual temperatures are recorded in

registering around 20.5°C, while the lowest is recorded in

mountain with less than 11.0°C. Neos Kosmos is the warmest area of

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

with an average annual temperature of 20.2°C and a

(

: ''BSh'') closely bordering a

hot-summer mediterranean A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typica ...

(''Csa'') climate. During July 2024 minimum temperatures remained over 30 °C (86 °F) for 12 consecutive days in metropolitan

, breaking all known records for any area in the country. Anavysos in the Athens Riviera records the lowest average annual precipitation in mainland

with around 295 mm, while the highest average annual precipitation is found in Avlonas with around 930 mm. Lavrio is the only area in mainland Attica that has never recorded an air frost according to the

station which operates since 2008. The highest temperature ever recorded in Attica was 48.0°C in

and Tatoi on July 10, 1977 which according to the

World Meteorological Organization The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology an ...

was also the highest official temperature ever recorded in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

until 2021. The lowest temperature ever recorded was -12.0°C in

mountain on January 9, 2017. The highest minimum temperature in mainland Attica was and it was recorded on July 26, 2023 in Hellinikon. The highest minimum temperature in the Attica region was in

. Furthermore, Attica has experienced temperatures of 47.5°C and over in four different locations.

Economy

The

Gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performanc ...

(GDP) of the region was 87.4 billion € in 2018, accounting for about 47% of the Greek economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 28,000 € or 93% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 99% of the EU average. Attica is the region in Greece with the highest GDP per capita. Despite that, the unemployment rate stood at 21.6% in 2017.

Transportation

Roads and highways

The main roads and highways of Attica are: * The A1 motorway (Athens-Thessaloniki) * The A6 motorway (northern beltway of Athens) * The A62 motorway (eastern beltway of Athens) * The A621 motorway * The A64 motorway (Athens Airport link) * The A65 motorway (western beltway of Athens) * The A8 motorway (Eleusis-Corinth) * Greek National Road 1 (old road Athens-Thessaloniki) * Greek National Road 3 (Elefsina-Lamia-Florina) *

Greek National Road 8 Greek National Road 8 (, abbreviated as EO8, common name: old Athens-Patras national road) is a single carriageway with at-grade intersections in the Attica, Peloponnese and West Greece regions. It connects Athens with the cities of Corinth and ...

(old road Athens-Patras) * Greek National Road 79 *

Greek National Road 83 Greek National Road 83 is a national highway of Greece. It connects Athens with Rafina via Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can ...

(Marathonos Avenue) * Greek National Road 89 * Greek National Road 91

Ferry lines

Numerous ferry lines, both normal ferries and high speed vessels, connect the port of Piraeus, with the islands of the region.

Other

* Public transport in Athens ** Athens Suburban Railway **

Athens Metro The Athens Metro () is a rapid transit system serving the Athens urban area in Greece. Line 1 opened as a single-track conventional steam railway in 1869 and was electrified in 1904. Beginning in 1991, Elliniko Metro S.A. constructed and ext ...

Athens Tram The Athens Tram is the modern public tram network system serving Athens, Greece. The system is owned and operated by STASY, which replaced Tram S.A. in June 2011. STASY operates a fleet of 25 Alstom Citadis and 35 Hitachi Sirio, Sirio vehicle ...

Sport

Football clubs

;Premier and second division Superleague &

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

* AEK - Nea Filadelfeia (Athens) * Apollon - Athens * Atromitos -

Peristeri Peristeri (Greek language, Greek: Περιστέρι, meaning "pigeon/dove" in Greek) is a city and a suburban municipality in the western part of the Athens#Athens Urban Area, Athens agglomeration, Greece. With 133,630 inhabitants (2021 census), ...

(Athens) * Egaleo FC (or Egaleo) -

Egaleo Aigaleo or Egaleo ( ) is a town and a suburban municipality in the western part of the Athens urban area, belonging to the West Athens regional administrative unit. It takes its name from Mount Aigaleo, whose name comes from the words αίγα/a ...

(Athens) * Ethnikos Asteras - Kesariani (Athens) * Ethnikos Piraeus - Piraeus * Haidari F.C. - Haidari (Athens) *

Ilisiakos Ilisiakos Football Club () is an Athens-based Association football, football club that was founded in 1927 by Michalis Xydis, Lambropoulos, Evgenopoulos, Nikolaos Plessas, ''et al.''. They played in Delta Ethiniki until 2003. Ilisiakos spent the ma ...

Zografou Zografou () is a suburban town of approximately 70,000 inhabitants in the eastern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. It was named after the Greek politician Ioannis Zografos. To the east of Zografou lies mount Hymettus. The area, being ...

(Athens) * Ionikos - Nikaia (Piraeus) *

Kallithea Kallithea (Greek language, Greek: Καλλιθέα, meaning "beautiful view") is a suburb in Athens#Athens Urban Area, Athens agglomeration and a municipality in South Athens (regional unit), south Athens regional unit. It is the eighth larges ...

(Athens) *

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

- Piraeus * Panathinaikos - Athens * Panionios -

(Athens) * Proodeftiki – Korydallos (Piraeus) * Thrasivoulos - Fyli (West Attica) ;Third division Football League 2 * Acharnaikos - Acharnes (Menidi) * Agios Dimitrios F.C. – Agios Dimitrios (Athens) * Aias Salamina - Salamina *

Charavgiakos F.C. Charavgiakos Football Club () is a Greek football club based in Ilioupoli, Central Athens, Greece. Honours Domestic ** Gamma Ethniki Champion (1): *** 1985–86 ** Delta Ethniki Delta Ethniki () was the fourth level of Greek football champ ...

Ilioupoli Ilioupoli (, " Sun City") is a suburban municipality and a town in Central Athens regional unit and located in the central-southern part of the Athens agglomeration. Its name is the modern form of the ancient name of Heliopolis in Egypt ...

(Athens) * Ilioupoli GS -

(Athens) * Koropi AO – Koropi * Vyzas -

;Junior division/unassorted * Aittitos - Spata * Aris Petroupoli – Petroupoli (Athens) * Aris Vari FC –

Vari Vari () is a southern suburb of Athens and former municipality in East Attica, Greece along the Athens coast. The ancient Athenian deme of Anagyrous was situated here. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Vari-Vo ...

* Artemis FC – Artemida (Loutsa) * Aspropyrgos F.C. –

Aspropyrgos Aspropyrgos (, ) is a western suburb, in the Athens metropolitan area and a municipality in the West Attica regional unit in the Thriasio Plain, Attica, Greece. The municipality had a population of 31,381 at the 2021 census. It has an area of 1 ...

* Gyziakos - Gyzi (Athens) * Kouvaras AC -

Kouvaras Kouvaras () is a village and a former community in East Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Saronikos, Attica, Saronikos, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 24.371 ...

* Olympiakos Papagou -

Papagou Papagou ( or Παπάγος ''Papagos'') is a suburban town and municipal unit in the eastern part of the Athens#Athens Urban Area, Athens agglomeration, Greece. The town is named after Marshal Alexandros Papagos, a general who led the Greek Army ...

(Athens) * Panelefsiniakos -

All sports

* Ampelokipoi AC - Athens (in the area of Ampelokipoi), fourth division * Ethnikos GS - Athens, fourth division * Fokianos Athinon - Athens, fourth division

Mini football

Mini football pitches - Online bookings

Mini football pitches and football academies

References

External links

* {{Authority control NUTS 1 statistical regions of Greece NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union States and territories established in 1987 Administrative regions of Greece 1987 establishments in Greece