Ioannina (regional unit)


Ioannina is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Epirus region. Its capital is the city of Ioannina. It is the largest regional unit in Epirus, and one of the largest regional units of Greece, with population 167,901, according to 2011 census.

Geography

Ioannina borders Albania in the north, and the regional units of Kastoria in the northeast, Grevena and Trikala in the east, Arta in the southeast, Preveza in the south and Thesprotia in the southwest and west.
Ioannina is a mountainous region, dominated by the Pindus mountains, that cover the eastern part of the regional unit. The main subranges of the Pindus are from north to south: Gramos, Smolikas, Tymfi, Lygkos, Lakmos and Athamanika. The lower Xerovouni mountains are situated in the south, and the Tomaros in the southwest.
Lake Pamvotida is the largest lake of Epirus. Several major rivers have their source in the Ioannina regional unit, including Aoös, Arachthos and Acheron.

History

The area of the present regional unit of Ioannina joined Greece in 1913, after the First Balkan War.

Administration

The regional unit Ioannina is subdivided into 8 municipalities. These are :
Ioannina was established as a prefecture in 1915. As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the regional unit Ioannina was created out of the former prefecture Ioannina. The prefecture had the same territory as the present regional unit. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below.
New municipalityOld municipalitiesSeat
DodoniDodoniAgia Kyriaki
DodoniAgios DimitriosAgia Kyriaki
DodoniLakka SouliouAgia Kyriaki
DodoniSelloiAgia Kyriaki
IoanninaIoanninaIoannina
IoanninaAnatoliIoannina
IoanninaBizaniIoannina
IoanninaIoannina IslandIoannina
IoanninaPamvotidaIoannina
IoanninaPeramaIoannina
KonitsaKonitsaKonitsa
KonitsaAetomilitsaKonitsa
KonitsaDistratoKonitsa
KonitsaMastorochoriaKonitsa
KonitsaFourkaKonitsa
MetsovoMetsovoMetsovo
MetsovoEgnatiaMetsovo
MetsovoMileaMetsovo
North Tzoumerka
PramantaPramanta
North Tzoumerka
VathypedoPramanta
North Tzoumerka
KalaritesPramanta
North Tzoumerka
KatsanochoriaPramanta
North Tzoumerka
MatsoukiPramanta
North Tzoumerka
SirakoPramanta
North Tzoumerka
TzoumerkaPramanta
PogoniKalpakiKalpaki
PogoniAno KalamasKalpaki
PogoniAno PogoniKalpaki
PogoniDelvinakiKalpaki
PogoniLavdaniKalpaki
PogoniPogonianiKalpaki
ZagoriEast ZagoriAsprangeloi
ZagoriVovousaAsprangeloi
ZagoriCentral ZagoriAsprangeloi
ZagoriPapigkoAsprangeloi
ZagoriTymfiAsprangeloi
ZitsaPasaronasEleousa
ZitsaEkaliEleousa
ZitsaEvrymenesEleousa
ZitsaZitsaEleousa
ZitsaMolossoiEleousa

Provinces

Note: Provinces no longer hold any legal status in Greece.

Transport

The prefecture of Ioannina, like most of the Greek mainland, is not as popular as the islands among tourists. However, besides the city Ioannina, there are a number of attractions in the area, including:
Ioannina has a major football team, that is named PAS Giannina. There are minor sports teams throughout the prefecture: