- Aetolia-Acarnania
Infobox Pref GR
name = Aetolia-Acarnania
name_local = Νομός Αιτωλοακαρνανίας
periph =West Greece
capital =Messolonghi
population = 223,188
population_as_of = 2005
pop_rank = 8th
pop_dens = 40.9
popdens_rank = 39th
area = 5,460.888
area_rank = 1st
postal_code = 30x xx
area_code = 263x0, 264x0
licence = ΑΙ, ΜΕ
provinces = 5
municip = 29
commun =
ISO = GR-01
website = [http://www.aitoloakarnania.gr/ www.aitoloakarnania.gr]Aetolia-Acarnania, (Greek: Αιτωλοακαρνανία, "Aitoloakarnanía", also "Aetoloacarnania" and "Etoloakarnania") is one of the
prefectures of Greece . It is located in the western part ofGreece ; the prefecture is a combination of the regionsAetolia andAcarnania , and its capital for historical reasons isMesolongi , with its biggest city and economic centre atAgrinion . The area is now connected with thePeloponnese peninsula via the spectacular Rio-Antirio Bridge, and the surrounding prefectures take in Arta in Epirus, a narrow length bordering Karditsa ofThessaly ,Eurytania to the northeast, andPhocis to the east. This is the largest prefecture in Greece.Geography
Mountains dominate the north, northeast, west and southeast, especially the Acarnanian Mountains. The longest and main river is the
Acheloos , which ends as a delta in wetlands to the southwest, an a rich fertile valley, and the second longest isEvinos ; others include theErmitsa , the Inachos, and theMornos (which is bounded with the Phokida prefecture). The prefecture excludes islands lying in the west, since they belong to theKefalonia and Ithaca Prefecture . There is one reservoir and a lake in its central part. The many mountains of the area span thePanaitoliko toward the northeast and theAcarnanian Mountains , where a springwater company was founded, theValtos Mountains also in the northeast, theMakrynoros to the extreme north, theNafpaktia Mountains to the southeast, theArakynthos andKravara to the south, andMount Lidoriki .Lakes include the
Amvrakia , the Lysimachia,Ozeros , and Trichonida, and artificial lakes and reservoirs include Kastraki, Kremasta, also the nation's largest lake since its creation in 1970, and Stratos. Two lagoons are found in the southern part of the prefecture, the Messolongi and the Aitoliko or EtolikoClimate
Its climate tends toward hot summers and mild winters in the low lying areas, with cool winters dominating in the mountain areas. At the highest elevations, summers are cool, and snow and cold weather dominate the winter months in the
Panaitoliko .On
April 11 ,2007 an enormous earthquake rumbled the prefecture and was even felt in southernmost Epirus, Evrytania, Phokida,Achaia , Ilia andLefkada including its smallerIonian Islands , its epicenter was atLake Trichonida and measured 5.3, 5.4, 5.6 and 5.7 on the Richter scale, the first earthquake occurred at 2 AM, the second at 6 AM and three more occurred at 10:13, 10:14 and at 10:15 AM, the last one occurred at around 10:45, about a half-hour later. It caused panic to the streets especially as residents evacuated and worried at their homes and shops at downtown Agrinio. Several houses were damaged; also one school as the wall and ceiling tumbled over desks. Fortunately no students were inside as they were enjoying their holidays.Rainstorms pelted the area especially in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Hailstorms pummelled the prefecture on
May 25 ,2007 as the low-pressure system that arrived from southern and centralEurope devastated crops including tomatoes, watermelons, and other crops. The hailstones were nearly the size of golfballs and turned the ground to a wintry scene.History
Ottoman Era
During the Ottoman period, the modern prefecture between the 16th century until the
Greek War of Independence was called asanjak ofKarleli .Modern Aetolia-Acarnania
Aetolia and Acarnania became a prefecture and merged to form Aetolia-Acarnania after the
Greek War of Independence in the late-1820s; the prefecture includedEvrytania at the time, and it ranked second largest in Greece. Evrytania separated from the prefecture in 1948. In the 20th century, ferry services between Rio and thePeloponnese began. and in the 1950s and the 1960s ferry services began to incorporate vehicles. FollowingWorld War II and theGreek Civil War a number of buildings needed to be repaired.A drawbridge linking the island of Lefkada began in the 1960s. The prefecture's first reservoir, the
Acheloos Dam over theAcheloos was under construction in 1967 and completed in the early-1970s delivering water and hydro to western part of Greece, villages were relocated at the time. Two more dams were added, theStratos Hydroelectric Dam in the 1980s and another in the late-1980s.Transportation
The following years, GR-5 bypassed Messolonghi and Agrinion and GR-38 became connected with paved road with Eurytania and Phthiotida. In the late-1980s, the by-pass of Naupaktos began construction but after paving the road, the signs did not appear and until 1998, it was left unopened. In 1999, the road was re-repaired and finally opened to traffic. In 2000, the construction of the Rio-Antirio or the
Charilaos Trikoupis Bridge connecting the Peloponnese began construction and was opened to traffic in August 2004. The superhighway, theIoniki Odos (Ionian Motorway) which will run centrally bypassing communities began construction in 2001 at a part between Messolonghi and the curve, this section remains to be unpaved, the rest of the highway is in plan but the opening date is not yet set.A railway formally served the places from Kryoneri and
Agrinio and served with the ferry with Rio. In the 1980s, the service came to an end and was the next on the list of prefectures not connected with rail. It will remain on the list but not high speed rail which will be in plan and connect with other cities including Athens, Patras andIoannina , the track through this prefecture remains uncertain since there is no tunnel with the Peloponnese.*
Greek National Road 5 /E55 , SE, S, Cen., N
*Greek National Road 38 , Cen., NE
*Greek National Road 42 , N, NW
*Greek National Road 48 /E65 , SE
*Road linking Agios Nikolaos, Astakos and Aitolikon, NW, W, SW, SPopulation history
*1991: 230,688
*2001: 228,180Communications
=Radio=*
Agrinio 93.7 FM Television
*
Acheloos TV - Agrinion
*Lychnos , UHF channel 32 (religious), broadcasting from Nafpaktos
*Nafpaktos TV - Naupaktos (Lepanto until the early-2000s)Newspapers
*" [http://www.29dytika.gr 29Dytika] "
*"Akarnania"
*"En Bambini " -Bambini
*" [http://www.epoxi.gr Nea Epohi] "
*"Vela"Former Provinces
*Messolonghi - Messolonghi/Messolongi
*Nafpaktia - Nafpaktos
*Trichonida - Agrinio
*Valtos - Amfilochia
*Vonitsa and Xirokampi Province - VonitsaMunicipalities
People
*
Stratos Apostolakis - footballer
*Georgios Athanasiadis-Novas - a former Greek prime minister
*Dimitris Bairaktaris
*Anthi Barbaki
*Theodoros Blitsas
*Filipos Darlas , footballer
*Kostas Dimahis
*Christos Garoufalis , writer
*Dimitris Hatzopoulos , screenwriter
*Konstantinos Hatzopoulos or Chatzopoulos - screenwriter
*Ioannis Kalogeras
*Christos Kapralos , writer
*Pavlos Karakostas
*Giannis Karamitsopoulos , poet
*Pantelis Karasevdas
*Dimitra Kolovou
*Michalis Kousis
*Konstantinos Ktistipoulos
*Ioannis Lykoudis
*Nikolaos Makris
*Kostas Mentis
*Aristidis Moschos , musician
*Giorgos Panagiotopoulos
*Anastasios Panagopoulos
*Andreas Panagopoulos
*Thodoros Papadimitriou
*Pythagoras Papastamatiou , director
*Evangelos Papastratos
*Dimitris Pistikos
*Loukia Pistiola , actor
*Athanasios Safacas - renowned professor of Patra's university
*Charilaos Trikoupis - a former Greek Prime Minister
*Spyridon Trikoupis - a former Greek Prime Minister
*Stelios Trikoupis
*Giannis Tsimitselis
*Dimitrios Valvis - a former Greek Prime Minister
*Zinovios Valvis - a former Greek Prime Minister
*Dimitrios Votsis, mayor ofAgrinio in the early to mid- [20th century
*Giannis Voyiatzis
*Yannis Yfantis - poet
*Giorgos Zaravinas - hodgeball playerporting teams
*
Panaetolikos FC - Agrinion, third divisionee also
*
List of settlements in the Aetolia-Acarnania prefecture
*Prefectures of Greece External links
* [http://www.aitoloakarnania.gr Official website]
* [http://www.culture.gr/maps/sterea/aitakarn/aitakarn.html culture.gr on Aitoloakarnania]
* [http://www.structurae.net/en/geo/geoid/11052/index.cfm Structurae on Aitoloakarnania]
* [http://www.agriniotes.gr Society of Agrinio’s Youth and Students in Athens]
* [http://www.katafigio-amorani.gr Katafigio Nafpaktias(Mountainous Nafpaktia)]
* [http://www.katafygion.com Katafygion Nafpaktias]
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