26 Facts About Greek Macedonia

The name Greek Macedonia was later applied to a number of widely-differing administrative areas in the Roman and Byzantine empires.

The economic ascent of Thessaloniki and of the other urban centres of Macedonia coincided with the cultural and political renaissance of the Greeks.

Greek Macedonia accounts for the majority of Greece's agricultural production and is a major contributor to the country's industrial and tourism sectors.

Central Greek Macedonia is Greece's tourist region and the most popular destination that is not an island.

Greek Macedonia remained an important and powerful kingdom until the Battle of Pydna, in which the Roman general Aemilius Paulus defeated King Perseus of Macedon, ending the reign of the Antigonid dynasty over Greek Macedonia.

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Therefore, ancient Greek Macedonia did not significantly extend beyond its current borders .

Acts of the Apostles records a vision in which the apostle Paul is said to have seen a 'man of Greek Macedonia' pleading with him, saying, "Come over to Greek Macedonia and help us".

The region of Macedonia Prima was divided between the Thema of Thessaloniki and the Thema of Strymon, so that only the region of the area from Nestos eastwards continued to carry the name Macedonia, referred to as the Thema of Macedonia or the Thema of "Macedonia in Thrace".

The Slavs of Greek Macedonia generally referred to themselves and were known as "Bulgarians".

The landscape is characterized by variety, since Western and Eastern Greek Macedonia is mountainous with the exception of some fertile valleys, while the Thessaloniki-Giannitsa plain, the largest in Greece, is located in Central Greek Macedonia.

The various regions of Greece are constituencies to the Hellenic Parliament, and Greek Macedonia is represented through its 66 members of parliament.

Greek Macedonia, being a border region of an EU member state, benefits from EU programs promoting cross-border economic collaboration both between members of the Union, as well as the Republic of North Greek Macedonia, an EU candidate country, and Albania.

Greek Macedonia is a diverse region which allows it to cater to a variety of different types of tourism.

Greek Macedonia is home to four of Greece's 18 UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Apart from being the cultural centre of Greek Macedonia, Thessaloniki is a hub for urban tourism and gastronomy.

Greek Macedonia is home to various lake and wetland tourist destinations.

Inhabitants of Greek Macedonia are nowadays overwhelmingly ethnic Greeks, and most are Greek Orthodox Christians.

When Macedonia was first incorporated in Greece in 1913 Greeks were a marginal plurality in the region.

Population of Greek Macedonia was greatly affected by the Second World War, as it was militarily occupied by Nazi Germany while its ally, Bulgaria, annexed eastern Greek Macedonia.

Greek Macedonia's discoveries were drawn upon as evidence of ethnic and cultural links between the ancient Macedonians and southern Greek city-states by Greeks in Macedonia.

Greek is spoken universally in Greek Macedonia, even in the border regions where there is a strong presence of languages other than Greek.

Exact size of the linguistic and ethnic minority groups in Greek Macedonia is not known with any degree of scientific accuracy, as Greece has not conducted a census on the question of mother tongue since 1951.

The Greek language remains dominant in all regions, even in those where Macedonian and other minority languages are present.

In 1925 the Greek government introduced the first Macedonian alphabet book, known as the Abecedar, based on the Florina dialect of the language; this never entered classrooms due to opposition from Serbia and Bulgaria, as well as an outcry against it in Greece.

However, reports by organisations such as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Council of Europe, and the United States Department of State have all concluded that Greek authorities are actively discriminatory against the existence of a Macedonian language, minority, or national identity, even if the situation has improved markedly.

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World War II was disastrous for Greek Jews; the Battle of Greece saw Greek Macedonia occupied by Italy, Bulgaria, and Nazi Germany, with the latter occupying much of Central Macedonia and implementing the Nuremberg Laws against the Jewish population.