Vehicle registration plates of Greece
Greek vehicle registration plates are composed of three letters and four digits per plate. The letters represent the district that issues the plates while the numbers begin from 1000 to 9999, similar plates with digits beginning from 1 to 999 are issued for motorcycles which exceed 50 cc. With the exception of Athens and Thessaloniki, all districts are represented by the first 2 letters, the final letter in the sequence changes in Greek alphabetical order after 9,000 issued plates. For example, Patras plates are ΑΧΑ-1000, where ΑΧ represents the Achaia prefecture of which Patras is the capital, when ΑΧΑ-9999 is reached the plates turn to ΑΧΒ-1000 and this continues until ΑΧΧ is finished. Only the letters from the intersection between the Latin and Greek alphabets by glyph appearance are used, namely Α, Β, Ε, Ζ, Η, Ι, Κ, Μ, Ν, Ο, Ρ, Τ, Υ, Χ. This is because Greece is a party to the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. The rule applies in a way in Russia, Belarus and Herzegovina. Combinations used for residents are L-NNNN and are limited.
Until 2003, taxis used L-NNNN, the plate was aligned with the prefecture, when number plates were introduced to Greece, they were numbered and in the late 1950s the system was L-NNN and LL-NNN. The letters were Greek letters and Latin letters, respectively, in 1956, the system was NNNNNN. In 1972, they became lettered and the system was LL-NNNN while trucks used L-NNNN, in 1983, the system was LLL-NNNN and the first two letters are prefecture letters. In 2004, the euroband was added, the first 2 of 3 letters of a licence plate usually represent the prefecture where the car was registered. Π. — Disabled in war ΔΟΚ — Test plates ΔΣ — Corps Diplomatique or foreign delegation Ε. Α. or ΕΛ. ΑΣ. — Hellenic Police ΛΣ — Coast Guard ΞΑ — Foreign missions ΕΣ — Hellenic Army ΠΑ — Hellenic Air Force ΠΝ — Hellenic Navy ΠΣ — Fire Guard ΠΚ — President of the Government, i. e
Thermaic Gulf
The Thermaic Gulf is a gulf of the Aegean Sea located immediately south of the Thessaloniki regional unit, east of Pieria and Imathia, and west of Chalkidiki. It was named after the ancient town of Therma, which was situated on the northeast coast of the gulf, near Thessaloniki, the length of the gulf is about 100 km, while its width is about 5 km. The length of the gulf in its part is estimated to stretch 15 km, while after megalo emvolo cape towards the south. Cape Kassandra lies to the southeast end of the gulf, to the Romans, the gulf was known as Thermaicus or Thermaeus sinus and as Macedonicus sinus. One of its modern names is the Gulf of Salonica, named after the city of Thessaloniki which sprawls around and along the northeastern coast of the gulf. Places that lie by the gulf include Sani, ancient Potidaea, Nea Moudania, Agia Triada, Neoi Epivates, Kalochori, Pydna, Paralia Katerinis and Olympiaki Akti. The rivers emptying into the gulf are the Pineios, Loudias and Axios, the Thermaic Gulf was significantly larger in classical times, with many ancient seaside cities are now found several kilometers inland.
The extensive silting mainly affects the northern and western parts of the gulf, the gulf is home to a large number of famous, pristine beaches, which include Sani Beach. However, there are no beaches on the northwest coast, where wetlands stretch from Methone to Thessalonikis western suburb of Kalochori, the Port of Thessaloniki is the gulfs largest and busiest port, while another twelve small ports provide sea transport in, out and around the Thermaic gulf. Major road networks of northern Greece such as the A1/E75 motorway encircles the western portion of the gulf, while the A25 almost encircles the eastern part of it
Vergina
Vergina is a small town in northern Greece, part of Veroia municipality in Imathia, Central Macedonia. It is now a unit within Veroia, with an area 69.047 km2. Vergina is best known as the site of ancient Aigai, the first capital of Macedon and it was here in 336 BC that Philip II was assassinated in the theatre and Alexander the Great was proclaimed king. It is the site of a royal palace and of many rich ancient tombs. The objects and paintings found in the tombs at Vergina are of high quality. A museum now contains Philips tomb and a new museum is being constructed for the palace, the existence of an early Macedonian fortress named Aegae is reported by Justin, and was long identified as Edessa. Only with the discovery of substantial remains near Vergina, just east of the Haliacmon, in 1976, ancient sources give conflicting accounts of the origins of the Argead dynasty. Alexander I is the first truly historic figure and, based on the line of succession, herodotus says that the Argead dynasty was an ancient Greek royal house led by Perdiccas I who fled from Argos, in approximately 650 BC.
Indeed, Aigai never became a city and most of its inhabitants lived in surrounding villages. From Aigai the Macedonians spread to the part of Macedonia. From 513 to 480 BC Aigai was part of the Persian Empire, the city wall was built in the 5th century probably by Perdiccas II. At the beginning of the 4th century BC, Archelaus transferred the Macedonian capital north-east to Pella on the central Macedonian plain. Nevertheless, Aegae retained its role as the city of the Macedonian kingdom, the site of the traditional cult centres, a royal palace. For this reason it was here that Philip II was attending the wedding of his daughter Cleopatra to King Alexander of Epirus when he was murdered by his bodyguard in the theatre and his was the most lavish funeral ceremony of historic times held in Greece. Laid on a gold and ivory deathbed wearing his precious golden oak wreath. The bitter struggles between the heirs of Alexander, the Diadochi, in the 3rd century adversely affected the city, in 276 BC the Gauls of Pyrrhus plundered many of the tombs.
After the overthrow of the Macedonian kingdom by the Romans in 168 BC both old and new capitals were destroyed, the walls pulled down and the palace, theatre, in the 1st century AD a landslide completely destroyed the city. However excavations prove that parts were inhabited in the 1st century AD
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate /ˌmɛdɪtəˈreɪniən/ or dry summer climate, is the climate typical of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin. The Mediterranean climate is characterised by dry summers and mild, moist winters, Mediterranean climate zones are associated with the four large subtropical high pressure cells of the oceans, the Azores High, South Atlantic High, North Pacific High, and South Pacific High. These climatological high pressure cells migrate by latitude according to the angle of the Sun, shifting north-eastward in the summer. These semi-permanent high pressure systems play a role in the formation of the worlds subtropical and tropical deserts as well as the Mediterranean Basins climate. The Azores High is associated with the Mediterranean climate found in the Mediterranean Basin, the Sahara Desert, the South Atlantic High is similarly associated with the Namib Desert and Kalahari Desert, and the Mediterranean climate of the western part of South Africa. Under the Köppen climate classification, hot climates and cool dry-summer climates are often referred to as mediterranean.
Under the Köppen climate system, the first letter indicates the climate group, temperate climates or C zones have an average temperature above 0 °C, but below 18 °C, in their coolest months. The second letter indicates the precipitation pattern, Köppen has defined a dry summer month as a month with less than 30 mm of precipitation and with less than one-third that of the wettest winter month. Some, use a 40 mm level, the third letter indicates the degree of summer heat, a represents an average temperature in the warmest month above 22 °C, while b indicates the average temperature in the warmest month below 22 °C. Under the Köppen classification, dry-summer climates usually occur on the sides of continents. Under Trewarthas system, at least eight months must have average temperatures of 10 °C or higher, during summer, regions of mediterranean climate are dominated by subtropical high pressure cells, with dry sinking air capping a surface marine layer of varying humidity and making rainfall unlikely.
In many Mediterranean climates there is a strong character to daily temperatures in the warm months. The majority of the regions with mediterranean climates have relatively mild winters, however winter and summer temperatures can vary greatly between different regions with a mediterranean climate. Or to consider summer, Athens experiences rather high temperatures in that season, in contrast, San Francisco has cool summers with daily highs around. In North America, areas with Csc climate can be found in the Olympic, Cascade and these locations are found at high altitude nearby lower altitude regions characterized by a warm-summer mediterranean climate or hot-summer mediterranean climate. A rare instance of this occurs in the tropics, on Haleakalā Summit in Hawaii. In South America, Csc regions can be found along the Andes in Chile, the town of Balmaceda is one of the few towns confirmed to have this climate. Small areas with a Csc climate can be found at elevations in Corsica
Strawberry
The garden strawberry is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus Fragaria. It is cultivated worldwide for its fruit, the fruit is widely appreciated for its characteristic aroma, bright red color, juicy texture, and sweetness. It is consumed in quantities, either fresh or in such prepared foods as preserves, fruit juice, ice creams, milkshakes. Artificial strawberry flavorings and aromas are used in many products like lip gloss, hand sanitizers, perfume. Cultivars of Fragaria × ananassa have replaced, in production, the woodland strawberry. Technically, the strawberry is an accessory fruit, meaning that the fleshy part is derived not from the plants ovaries. Each apparent seed on the outside of the fruit is one of the ovaries of the flower. The first garden strawberry was grown in Brittany, France during the late 18th century, prior to this, wild strawberries and cultivated selections from wild strawberry species were the common source of the fruit. The strawberry fruit was mentioned in ancient Roman literature in reference to its medicinal use, the French began taking the strawberry from the forest to their gardens for harvest in the 14th century.
Charles V, Frances king from 1364 to 1380, had 1,200 strawberry plants in his royal garden, in the early 15th century western European monks were using the wild strawberry in their illuminated manuscripts. The strawberry is found in Italian and German art, the entire strawberry plant was used to treat depressive illnesses. By the 16th century references of cultivation of the strawberry became more common, people began using it for its supposed medicinal properties and botanists began naming the different species. In England the demand for regular strawberry farming had increased by the mid-16th century, the combination of strawberries and cream was created by Thomas Wolsey in the court of King Henry VIII. Instructions for growing and harvesting strawberries showed up in writing in 1578, by the end of the 16th century three European species had been cited, F. vesca, F. moschata, and F. viridis. The garden strawberry was transplanted from the forests and the plants would be propagated asexually by cutting off the runners, two subspecies of F. vesca were identified, F. sylvestris alba and F. sylvestris semperflorens.
The introduction of F. virginiana from Eastern North America to Europe in the 17th century is an important part of history because this gave rise to the modern strawberry. The new species gradually spread through the continent and did not become completely appreciated until the end of the 18th century, when a French excursion journeyed to Chile in 1712, it introduced the strawberry plant with female flowers that resulted in the common strawberry that we have today. The Mapuche and Huilliche Indians of Chile cultivated the female strawberry species until 1551 when the Spanish came to conquer the land, in 1765, a European explorer recorded the cultivation of F. chiloensis, the Chilean strawberry
Haliacmon
The Haliacmon is the longest river in Greece, with a total length of 297 km. Haliacmon is the traditional English name for the river, but many sources cite the formerly official Katharevousa version of the name, the only official variant is the demotic Aliákmonas. It flows through the Greek regions of West Macedonia and Central Macedonia, Τhe name Αλιάκμονας is composite and derives from άλς and άκμων. An ancient tradition says that sheep that drank water from Haliakmon would turn their colour to white. This tradition is confirmed by the record of the Roman author Pliny the Elder, Similarly in Macedonia. Ottoman Turks called the river Ince-Karasu, before the construction of its diversion dam near the village of Aghia Varvara in the mid-1950s, Haliakmon had no permanent river bed in its lowland course. It often flooded and formed extensive marshes and its devastating fury in December 1935 remains fresh in memory of the elder inhabitants of the region. The Haliacmon rises in the Gramos mountains in northern Greece, near the border with Albania, in its upper course it flows generally towards the east, and turns southeast near Kastoria.
It describes a curve around the Vourinos mountains, and turns northeast near the village Paliouria. It feeds the large artificial Lake Polyfytos, that was created after the construction of the hydroelectric dam. Over the bridge runw the Lake Polyfytos Bridge, part of the Athens-Kozani national road, southeast of Veria, the Haliacmon enters the central Macedonian plains, an area of great importance to agriculture. It flows into the Thermaic Gulf west of the delta of the Axios, Haliakmons tributaries include Gramos, Pramoritsa, Grevenitikos and Tripotamos. The Haliacmon flows along the towns Nestorio, Argos Orestiko, Paliouria, Haliakmon contains 33 kinds of fish. About 30 of them are indigenous, while the rest were introduced by human intervention, many of them are considered scarce and one, lives nowhere else in the world, i. e. it is endemic. Μost of these kinds of fish have no commercial value but only biological, fish found in Haliakmon, like carp and rainbow trout, indicate that its water is still pure.
Some eels are found in its estuaries, that cannot migrate, for amateur fishermen the river has been enriched with introduced rainbow trout, that is not easy to reproduce, so there is no danger of disturbance of the rivers ecosystem. As a result, silting has benn greatly reduced and during the summer, when there is no much water, flathead mullets and European seabasses are found in Haliakmons Delta. In the shallow marine areas formed there, the fry of many Aegean Seas fish finds a place to reproduce, aliki Kitrous is an area of 254 hectares, where 15-20.000 tons of salt are produced per year
Pierian Mountains
The Pierian Mountains are a mountain range between Imathia and Kozani Region, south of the plain of Kambania in Central Macedonia, Greece. The village of Vergina, where the site of ancient Aigai lies, is built at the foot of these mountains. The highest point in the range is Flampouro at 2, 193m. The Pierian Mountains are the site of the ski resort of Elatochori, a total of 70 people and crew,41 of which were Greeks, were killed
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, historically known as Hellas, is a country in southeastern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2015. Athens is the capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki. Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of nine regions, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Epirus, the Aegean Islands, Crete. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km in length, featuring a vast number of islands, eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea.
Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming a part of the Roman Empire and its successor. The Greek Orthodox Church shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World, falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greeces rich historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe, Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the member to join the European Communities and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. Greeces unique cultural heritage, large industry, prominent shipping sector. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor, the names for the nation of Greece and the Greek people differ from the names used in other languages and cultures.
The earliest evidence of the presence of human ancestors in the southern Balkans, dated to 270,000 BC, is to be found in the Petralona cave, all three stages of the stone age are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave. Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC, are the oldest in Europe by several centuries and these civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans in Linear B, an early form of Greek. The Mycenaeans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but collapsed violently around 1200 BC and this ushered in a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, from which written records are absent. The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature, are believed to have been composed by Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. With the end of the Dark Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and city-states across the Greek peninsula, in 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted the worlds first democratic system of government in Athens
