{{Infobox Greece place | name = Kastoria | name_local = <small>Περιφερειακή ενότητα</small><br>Καστοριάς | type = regional unit | image_skyline = 2010 Dimi Kastorias numbered.svg | caption_skyline = Municipalities of Kastoria | image_map = Nomos Kastorias.png | map_caption = Kastoria within Greece | coordinates = {{coord|40|30|N|21|15|E|display=inline,title}} | georegion = [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]] | periph = [[Western Macedonia]] | seat = [[Kastoria]] | area = 1720 | elevation = | population = 45929 | population_as_of = 2021 | demonym = | postal_code = 52x xx | area_code = 24670 | licence = ΚΑ | website = {{URL|www.kastoria.gr}} }} '''Kastoria''' ({{langx|el|Περιφερειακή Ενότητα Καστοριάς}}, ''Perifereiakí Enótita Kastoriás'') is one of the 74 [[regional units of Greece]] and is part of the [[modern regions of Greece|region]] of [[Western Macedonia]]. Its capital is the homonymous city of [[Kastoria]].
==Geography== Kastoria is situated at the western end of [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]] in the far north of the country. It borders the regional units of [[Florina (regional unit)|Florina]] to the north, [[Kozani (regional unit)|Kozani]] to the southeast, [[Grevena (regional unit)|Grevena]] to the south and [[Ioannina (regional unit)|Ioannina]] to the southwest. The area of the regional unit roughly corresponds to the [[Regions of ancient Greece|ancient Greek region]] of [[Orestis (region)|Orestis]] of [[Upper Macedonia]]. The international border with the [[Albania]]n district of [[Korçë District|Korçë]] lies on the western edge of the regional unit.
The main mountain ranges are [[Gramos]] and [[Voio]] in the west (both part of the [[Pindus]] range) and [[Verno]] in the northeast. The [[Haliacmon|Haliacmon river]] flows through the area. [[Lake Orestiada]] is the largest lake. The regional unit is mountainous with a pronounced continental climate, characterised by cold winters and hot summers.
==Administration==
The regional unit Kastoria is subdivided into 3 municipalities. These are (number as in the map in the infobox):<ref name=Kallikratis>{{Cite web|url=http://www.et.gr/idocs-nph/search/pdfViewerForm.html?args=5C7QrtC22wGYK2xFpSwMnXdtvSoClrL8-SrPzKAEPjjtIl9LGdkF53UIxsx942CdyqxSQYNuqAGCF0IfB9HI6hq6ZkZV96FIukI0UzcPsWCK0LpLhpa7rhiWB4R5ntTnoWw7U8E1Amg.|title=ΦΕΚ A 87/2010, Kallikratis reform law text|language=el|publisher=[[Government Gazette (Greece)|Government Gazette]]}}</ref> *[[Kastoria]] (1) *[[Nestorio]] (2) *[[Argos Orestiko]] (3)
===Prefecture===
Kastoria was created as a [[prefectures of Greece|prefecture]] ({{langx|el|Νομός Καστοριάς}}) in 1941. As a part of the [[Kallikratis Programme|2011 Kallikratis government reform]], the regional unit Kastoria was created out of the former prefecture Kastoria. The prefecture had the same territory as the present regional unit. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below.<ref name=Kallikratis/>
{| class="wikitable" ! New municipality !! Old municipalities !! Seat |- | rowspan=9|[[Kastoria]]|| [[Kastoria]] || rowspan=9|Kastoria |- | [[Agia Triada, Kastoria|Agia Triada]] |- | [[Agioi Anargyroi, Kastoria|Agioi Anargyroi]] |- | [[Vitsi]] |- | [[Kastraki, Kastoria|Kastraki]] |- | [[Kleisoura, Kastoria|Kleisoura]] |- | [[Korestia]] |- | [[Makednoi]] |- | [[Mesopotamia, Greece|Mesopotamia]] |- | rowspan=4|[[Nestorio]]|| [[Nestorio]] || rowspan=4|Nestorio |- | [[Akrites, Kastoria|Akrites]] |- | [[Arrenes]] |- | [[Gramos, Greece|Gramos]] |- | rowspan=2|[[Argos Orestiko]]|| [[Argos Orestiko]] || rowspan=2|Argos Orestiko |- | [[Ion Dragoumis (municipality)|Ion Dragoumis]] |}
==Demographics==
The Kastoria region was part of the [[Ottoman Empire]] for several centuries and following the [[Balkan Wars]] (1912–1913) became part of Greece.<ref name="Fonzi76"/> There were religious communities such as Christians, Muslims and [[History of the Jews in Greece|Jews]] and groups of Turcophones, [[Greeks]], [[Aromanians]] and [[Slavic speakers of Greek Macedonia|Slavophones]].<ref name="Fonzi76"/> The rural areas of Kastoria province were multi–ethnic, as the north was largely, though not entirely populated by Slavic speakers, while the south mainly had Grecophones.<ref name="Fonzi79"/> The demographics of the Kastoria region were affected by the population exchanges Greece had with [[Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine|Bulgaria (voluntary, 1919)]] and [[Population exchange between Greece and Turkey|Turkey (compulsory, 1923)]].<ref name="Fonzi78"/> Numbers of Slavic speakers decreased.<ref name="Fonzi78"/> After 1913, a few Christian families from the new state of [[Albania]] settled in several villages within Kastoria district.<ref name="Koliopoulos42">{{harvnb|Koliopoulos|1999|p=42}}.</ref>
The official and unpublished Greek census (1923) recorded 68,245 people in Kastoria district, with 29,598 Slav Macedonian Christians and 22,768 Greeks who also included [[Aromanian language|Aromanian]] speakers and [[Albanian language|Albanian]] speakers.<ref name="Koliopoulos38"/> Muslims numbered either 13,767 people (or 2425 families)<ref name="Pelagidis77"/> or 14,448 inhabitants and 1,794 Jews.<ref name="Koliopoulos38"/> Historian John Koliopoulos described the 1923 census as "the least unreliable" for its numbers of language groups in the area.<ref name="Koliopoulos38">{{harvnb|Koliopoulos|1999|p=38}}.</ref> A quarter of all inhabitants in the Kastoria region were Muslims and they, including Muslim Albanophones were sent to [[Turkey]] as part of the Greek–Turkish population exchange based on religious criteria.<ref name="Koliopoulos40">{{harvnb|Koliopoulos|1999|p=40}}.</ref><ref name="Baltsiotis282948">{{cite journal|last=Baltsiotis|first=Lambros|title=The Muslim Chams of Northwestern Greece: The grounds for the expulsion of a "non-existent" minority community|url=http://ejts.revues.org/4444|journal=European Journal of Turkish Studies|volume=12|year=2011|at=para. 28–29; footnote 48}} "The Albanian claims on the Albanian speaking population of the areas of Kastoria [Kostur in Albanian] and Florina [Follorinë in Albanian] did not ensure the non-inclusion of this Albanian speaking Muslim population in the Greco-Turkish exchange of populations. Nevertheless, these claims and related struggles were far from leading to any major bilateral or international debate."</ref> A small number of Muslim [[Albanians]] were excluded from the population exchange and remained in the Kastoria region.<ref name="Fonzi78"/>
In 1924, Greek authorities compiled data of the ethnological composition of [[Macedonia (Greece)|Greek Macedonia]].<ref name="Kontogiorgi248249">{{harvnb|Kontogiorgi|2006|pp=248–249}}.</ref> Kastoria district had a total of 68,340 inhabitants composed of 22,768 Greeks; 14,448 Muslims; 7,519 Slavophone former [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople|Patriarchists]]; 22,079 Slavophone former [[Bulgarian Exarchate|Exarchists]]; 220 Aromanian speakers (pro–Romanian); 1,211 Jews and 95 refugees.<ref name="Kontogiorgi248">{{harvnb|Kontogiorgi|2006|p=248}}.</ref> Political categories from a nationalist perspective were used to describe ethnic groups or religious affiliations in the 1924 data by Greek authorities.<ref name="Fonzi79"/>
[[Greek refugees]] arrived in the Kastoria area, while their settlement was limited by the lack of fertile land and the need for stable bilateral relations with [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] which also prevented mass Slavophone emigration.<ref name="Fonzi78"/> In Greek Macedonia, Kastoria province remained an area in the interwar period where Slavophones were a large part of the population.<ref name="Fonzi78">{{harvnb|Fonzi|2021|p=78}}.</ref> A 1925 study by the Greek 10th Army Division of Western Macedonia recorded 1,866 refugee families were settled in 28 villages within the Kastoria region.<ref name="Kostopoulos33">{{harvnb|Kostopoulos|2011|at=para 33}}.</ref> Greek refugee families in Kastoria prefecture were from [[East Thrace]] (41), [[Asia Minor]] (441), [[Pontus (region)|Pontus]] (1,417), the [[Caucasus]] (23) and unidentified locations (9) in 1926.<ref name="Pelagidis77"/> In 1928, there were 1,928 refugee families (7,554 people).<ref name="Pelagidis77">{{cite thesis|last=Pelagidis|first=Efstathios|date=1992|title=Η αποκατάσταση των προσφύγων στη Δυτική Μακεδονία (1923–1930)|trans-title=The rehabilitation of refugees in Western Macedonia: 1923–1930|type=Ph.D.|language=el|publisher=Aristotle University of Thessaloniki|url=https://www.didaktorika.gr/eadd/handle/10442/2403|access-date=15 July 2024|page=77}}</ref> In the Kastoria region, the number of refugees reached 8,370.<ref name="Fonzi79">{{harvnb|Fonzi|2021|p=79}}.</ref>
The official and unpublished Greek census (1925) for the Kastoria district recorded 17,737 native Greeks and 5,962 Greek refugees; 14,807 Slavophone former Exarchists; 7,339 Slavophone former Patriarchists; 2,195 Aromanian speakers (pro–Greek), 135 Aromanian speakers (pro–Romanian); 525 Jews, 213 Muslim Albanians and 29 foreigners.<ref name="Kontogiorgi250">{{harvnb|Kontogiorgi|2006|p=250}}.</ref><ref name="Fonzi7879">{{cite journal|last=Fonzi|first=Paolo|title=Political Violence in a Borderland. The Region of Kastoria under Italian Occupation (1941–1943)|url=https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/1512361|journal=Journal of Balkan and Black Sea Studies|issue=6|year=2021|pages=78–79|doi=}}</ref> A report (January 1925) by the Florina prefect stated the total Kastoria district population was 47,500.<ref name="Koliopoulos39"/><ref name="Kontogiorgi252"/> Slavophones (29,500) were the majority population and divided between Exarchists or "Schismatics" (22,000) who supported Bulgaria and Patriarchists (7,500) who supported Greece.<ref name="Koliopoulos39"/><ref name="Kontogiorgi252"/> Native Greeks numbered 10,500 and refugees were 7,500.<ref name="Koliopoulos39">{{harvnb|Koliopoulos|1999|p=39}}.</ref>
A refugee committee report (1942) from Bulgarian occupied northern Greece using [[League of Nations]] data covering 1913 to 1928 stated the numbers of Slav Macedonian emigrants from Kastoria district to Bulgaria were 4,070.<ref name="Koliopoulos37"/> Koliopoulos commented 4,200 emigrants was a figure reflecting nearer the realities of the period.<ref name="Koliopoulos37"/> The 1942 report wrote the combined number of Slav Macedonians of the interwar period in Kastoria and Florina districts was 37,000.<ref name="Koliopoulos37"/> Another estimate on the interwar period put the number of Slav Macedonians in Kastoria district at 12,000.<ref name="Koliopoulos37">{{cite book|last=Koliopoulos|first=John S.|title=Plundered Loyalties: Axis Occupation and Civil Strife in Greek West Macedonia, 1941-1949|year=1999|publisher=Hurst|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3hFahiZflJoC&q=kastoria+1925+population&pg=PA39|isbn=9781850653813|page=37}}</ref>
A report in 1930 by Florina prefect P. Kalligas recorded the combined population of the Florina/Kastoria region as 125,722 and 58,882 had Greek sentiments and 61,950 were without a Greek national consciousness.<ref name="Kontogiorgi252"/> Language groups: 76,370 Slavophones; 38,844 Grecophones (natives and refugees); 3,508 Turcophones (refugees); 4,500 Aromanians and 2,500 Albanians.<ref name="Kontogiorgi252"/> Greek sentiments among language groups: 14,420 Slavophones; 38,854 Grecophones (natives and refugees); 3,508 Turcophones (refugees); 3,000 Aromanians and 1,800 Albanians.<ref name="Kontogiorgi252">{{cite book|last=Kontogiorgi|first=Elisabeth|title=Population Exchange in Greek Macedonia: The Rural Settlement of Refugees 1922-1930|year=2006|publisher=Clarendon Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IMsSDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA248|isbn=9780191515552|page=252}}</ref>
In 1940, Kastoria district had a population of 68,237.<ref name="Fonzi76">{{harvnb|Fonzi|2021|p=76}}.</ref> The Greek ministers for Military Affairs, Justice and the Interior ordered a census (1945) of citizens with "Bulgarian sentiments" who numbered 11,380 in Kastoria Prefecture.<ref name="Kostopoulos43"/> Greek Foreign Minister Ioannis Politis ordered the compilation of demographic data by a committee from the Greek political establishment regarding the Prefecture of Kastoria in 1945.<ref name="Alvanos518"/><ref name="Kostopoulos43">{{harvnb|Kostopoulos|2011|at=para 43}}.</ref> The total prefecture population was 58,590, and [[Slavic speakers of Greek Macedonia|Slavophones]] numbered 21,867 with 13,517 having a Bulgarian national consciousness.<ref name="Alvanos518">{{cite thesis|last=Alvanos|first=Raymondos|date=2005|title=Κοινωνικές συγκρούσεις και πολιτικές συμπεριφορές στην περιοχή της Καστοριάς (1922–1949)|trans-title=Social conflicts and political behaviors in the area of Kastoria (1955–1949)|type=Ph.D.|language=el|publisher=Aristotle University of Thessaloniki|url=https://www.didaktorika.gr/eadd/handle/10442/18991|access-date=15 July 2024|page=518}}</ref> Colonel Anastasios Dalipis in 1945 stated Kastoria prefecture had a total of 110 villages with 75 populated by Slavophones.<ref name="Kostopoulos42">{{harvnb|Kostopoulos|2011|at=para 42}}.</ref>
During 1951, the Greek census recorded 1,009 Slavophones in Kastoria district.<ref name="Kostopoulos50"/> The Greek [[National Intelligence Service (Greece)|National Intelligence Service]] conducted a secret census in 1954 and Slavophones in Kastoria district numbered 17,229.<ref name="Kostopoulos50"/> Information supplied to diplomat Dimitrios Bitsios and academic [[Evangelos Kofos]] by local representatives in 1965 estimated Slavophones in Kastoria district numbered 40,000.<ref name="Kostopoulos50">{{cite journal|last=Kostopoulos|first=Tassos|title=How the North was won. Épuration ethnique, échange des populations et politique de colonisation dans la Macédoine grecque|trans-title=How the North was won. Ethnic cleansing, population exchange and settlement policy in Greek Macedonia|language=fr|url=https://journals.openedition.org/ejts/4437|journal=European Journal of Turkish Studies|issue=12|year=2011|doi=10.4000/ejts.4437 |at=para. 50|doi-access=free}}</ref>
In the 1990s, the [[European Commission]]'s [[Euromosaic]] project documenting minority languages recorded 77 (Slavo) Macedonian/Bulgarian villages in the Prefecture of Kastoria, and a presence in Kastoria and Argos Orestiko.<ref name="EuromosaicMB"/> Slavophones were concentrated in certain areas within the prefecture and a significant small part of the population had knowledge of and used the [[Macedonian language]], being aware of its cultural value.<ref name="EuromosaicMB">{{cite web|author=Euromosaic|date=2006|title=Le [slavo]macédonien/bulgare en Grèce|url=https://www.uoc.edu/euromosaic/web/document/macedoni/fr/i1/i1.html|trans-title=[Slavo]Macedonian/Bulgarian in Greece|language=fr|publisher=Research Centre of Multilingualism|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209180202/https://www.uoc.edu/euromosaic/web/document/macedoni/fr/i1/i1.html|archive-date=9 February 2019|access-date=8 November 2025}}</ref> A survey (1999–2005) conducted by linguist Christian Voss of Slavic speaking villages in Greece, counted 117 villages in the administrative region of Western Macedonia which included the prefecture of Kastoria.<ref name="Voss88">{{cite book|last=Voss|first=Christian|chapter=Toward the peculiarities of language shift in northern Greece|editor1-last=Stern|editor1-first=Dieter|editor2-last=Voss|editor2-first=Christian|title=Marginal Linguistic Identities: Studies in Slavic Contact and Borderland Varieties|year=2006|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz|isbn=9783447053549|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gfcoEcwGMRAC&dq=Kastoria+demographics&pg=PA88|page=88}}</ref>
==Transport== The main roads that pass through the regional unit are the [[A29 motorway (Greece)|A29 motorway]] and [[Greek National Road 15|EO15 road]]. The [[Greek National Road 20|EO20]] briefly passes through the unit to the south, through {{ill|Eptachori, Kastorias|el|Επταχώρι Καστοριάς|lt=Eptachori}}.
==See also== * [[List of settlements in the Kastoria regional unit]] * [[Dispilio Tablet]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Regional units of Greece}} {{Kallikratis-West Macedonia}} {{Prefectures of Greece}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:Kastoria (regional unit)| ]] [[Category:Prefectures of Greece]] [[Category:Regional units of Western Macedonia]]