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| Statistics | ||
|---|---|---|
| Capital: | Patra, Patras | |
| Area: | 3,209 km² | |
| Inhabitants: | 297,318 (1991) 327,316 (2001) | |
| Pop. density: | 95 to 96 inh./km² 2001 | |
| Name of inhabitants | Achaeans | |
| Code for the municipalities | 07xx | |
| Number of municipalities | 21 | |
| ISO 3166-2: | GR-13 | |
| Car designation | ΑΧ (also pro. alpha-chi | |
| Map | ||
Achaea or Achaia is a district on the northern coast of the Peloponnese, stretching from the mountain ranges of Erymanthus and Cyllene on the south to a narrow strip of fertile land on the north, bordering the Gulf of Corinth, into which the mountain Panachaicus (1,902 m, the northernmost mountain range in the Peloponnese) projects. Achaea is bounded on the west by the territory of Elis, on the east by that of Sicyon, which, however, was sometimes included in it. The population in 2001 has almost reached 300,000.
Its climate has hot summers and mild winters. Sunny days dominate during the summer months in areas within the beaches and partially cloudy and rainy in the mountains. Snow is very common during the winter in the mountains of Erymanthus, Panachaicus and Aroania. Winter high temperatures is around the 10°C mark throughout the low lying areas.
The origin of the name has given rise to much speculation; one theory is that the Achaeans were driven back into this region by the Dorian invadersThe Dorian invasion is one of the theories of the decline of the Mycenaean civilization in ancient Greece. There are two other theories: failing trade and natural disaster. See: Greek Dark Ages. of the Peloponnese. Another Achaea, in the south of ThessalyThessaly (Θεσσαλια; modern Greek Thessalia is one of the 13 peripheries of Greece, and is further sub-divided into 4 prefectures. The capital of the periphery is Larissa. The prefecture lies in central Gre, called sometimes Achaea Phthiotis, has been supposed to be the cradle of the race.
In Ancient Rome times the name of the province of Achaea was given to the whole of GreeceGreece formally called the Hellenic Republic (in Greek: ) Hellenike Demokratia , is a country in the southeast of Europe on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula. It is bounded on land by Bulgaria, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Albania, except ThessalyThessaly (Θεσσαλια; modern Greek Thessalia is one of the 13 peripheries of Greece, and is further sub-divided into 4 prefectures. The capital of the periphery is Larissa. The prefecture lies in central Gre, EpirusEpirus ( Greek , Albanian Cameria), a province in northwestern Greece (a Greek periphery) bounded by West Macedonia and Thessaly to the east, by the Ambracian Gulf and the province of West Greece to the south, the Ionian Sea and the Ionian Islands to the, and AcarnaniaAcarnania was a region of ancient central western Greece that lay along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia, with the Achelous River for a boundary, and north of the gulf of Calydon, which is the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. The capital and principal city. It is in this latter enlarged meaning that the name is always used in the New TestamentThe New Testament sometimes called the Greek Scriptures is the name given to the part of the Christian Bible that was written after the birth of Jesus Christ. The term is a translation of the Latin Novum Testamentum which translates the Greek Η &Kappa (e.g., Acts 18:12, 27; 19:21; Romans 15: 26; 16:5).
In the 13th century the Principality of Achaea was founded in Greece after the Fourth Crusade.
The Principality of Achaea fell to the Ottoman Empire. In 1821, it became part of Greece.
A mid- 1994 late-night (around 3 AM local time) earthquake rumbled the area with a magnitude around 5 on the Richter scale. This was a minor one. It was after another earthquake.