Thessalia

Thessaly Θεσσαλία
Administrative region of Greece Traditional region of Greece
Flag
Thessaly within Greece
Coordinates: 39°36′N 22°12′E / 39.6°N 22.2°E / 39.6; 22.2Coordinates: 39°36′N 22°12′E / 39.6°N 22.2°E / 39.6; 22.2
Country	Greece
Decentralized Administration	Thessaly and Central Greece
Capital	Larissa
Regional units	List Karditsa Larissa Magnesia Trikala Sporades
Government
• Regional governor	Konstantinos Agorastos () (Nea Dimokratia)
Area
• Total	14,036.64 km2 (5,419.58 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	732,762
• Density	52/km2 (140/sq mi)
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
ISO 3166 code	GR-E
Website	www.pthes.gov.gr

Thessaly (Greek: Θεσσαλία, Thessalía; ancient Thessalian: Πετθαλία, Petthalía) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia (Greek: Αἰολία), and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey.

Thessaly became part of the modern Greek state in 1881, after four and a half centuries of Ottoman rule. Since 1987 it has formed one of the country's 13 regions and is further (since the Kallikratis reform of 2010) sub-divided into 5 regional units and 25 municipalities. The capital of the region is Larissa. Thessaly lies in central Greece and borders the regions of Macedonia on the north, Epirus on the west, Central Greece on the south and the Aegean Sea on the east. The Thessaly region also includes the Sporades islands.

In Homer's epic, the Odyssey, the hero Odysseus visited the kingdom of Aeolus, which was the old name for Thessaly.

...
Wikipedia