Athens

**Athens** (; , *Athína*, ; , *Athēnai*) is the caipital an lairgest ceity o Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region an is ane o the warld's auldest ceities, wi its recordit history spannin aroond 3,400 year. Classical Athens, as a landlockit location wis a pouerful ceity-state that emergit in conjunction wi the seagoin development o the port o Piraeus. A centre for the airts, learnin an filosofie, hame o Plato's Academy an Aristotle's Lyceum, it is widely referred tae as the cradle o Wastren ceevilization an the birthplace o democracy, lairgely due tae the impact o its cultural an poleetical achievements durin the 5t an 4t centuries BC in later centuries on the rest o the then kent European continent. The day a cosmopolitan metropolis, modren Athens is central tae economic, feenancial, industrial, poleetical an cultural life in Greece. In 2008, Athens wis rankit the warld's 32nt richest ceity bi purchasin pouer an the 25t maist expensive in a UBS study. The ceity is namit in honour o Athena.

## History
Lang syne, Athens wis a feckfu ceity. It wis kent for the feck o learnin that happened thare, an wis hame tae Plato's Academy an Aristotle's Lyceum. It haed its ain Constitution an aw.

The Ottoman Turks teuk ower Athens in 1458. The Turks made the Parthenon intae a Muslim mosque.  The Parthenon wis later skaithed in 1687 whan gunpouder explodit ben the biggin.

Athens wis freed fae the Turks durin the Greek war o unthirldom (1821-33). It syne becam the caipital o Greece.

## Govrenment

Athens became the caipital o Greece in 1834, follaein Nafplio, which wis the proveesional caipital frae 1829. In addeetion, the municipality o Athens is the caipital o the Attica region. *Athens* can refer aither tae the municipality o Athens or tae the entire Athens Urban area, which maks up the "Ceity o Athens" that sprawls athort the *Attica Basin*.

### Attica Region
The **Athens Metropolitan Area**, sprawlin ower , is locatit athin the  Attica region. The region encompasses the maist populatit region o Greece, reachin 3,827,624 indwallers in 2011, while it is housomeivver, ane o the smawest regions in the kintra.

The Attica region itsel is split intae aicht regional units, oot o which the first fower form *Greater Athens*, while the regional unit o Piraeus forms *Greater Piraeus*. Thegither thay mak up the contiguous biggit up urban area o the Greek caipital, spanning ower .
* North Athens (Urban area)
* Wast Athens (Urban area)
* Central Athens (Urban area)
* Sooth Athens (Urban area)
* Piraeus (Urban area)
* East Attica (Metropolitan area)
* Wast Attica (Metropolitan area)
* Islands

Till 2010, the first fower regional units abuin made up the abolisht Athens Prefectur (wha is referred tae as *Greater Athens*) an aw, which wis the maist populous o the Prefecturs o Greece at the time, accoontin for 2,640,701 fowk (in 2011), athin a area o .

### Athens Municipality

The municipality o Athens is the maist populous in Greece, wi a population o 664,046 fowk (in 2011) an a area o , formin the core o the Athens Urban Area athin the *Attica Basin*. The current mayor o Athens is Giorgos Kaminis. The municipality is dividit intae seiven municipal destricts which are mainly uised for admeenistrative purposes.

Population data for the 7 municipal destricts o Athens (2001 census):

1st: 97,570
2nt: 110,069
3rd: 48,305
4t: 87,672
5t: 95,234
6t: 147,181
7t: 159,483

For Athenians the maist popular wey o dividin the ceity proper is throu its neebourheids sic as Pagkrati, Ambelokipi, Exarcheia, Patissia, Ilissia, Petralona, Koukaki an Kypseli, each wi its awn distinct history an characteristics.

The Athens municipality forms the core an centre o **Greater Athens** an aw which consists o the Athens municipality an 34 mair municipalities, which are dividit in the fower regional units mentioned abuin.

The municipalities o Greater Athens alang wi the municipalities athin Greater Piraeus (regional unit o Piraeus) form the Athens Urban Area, while the lairger metropolitan area includes several addeetional suburbs an touns surroondin the dense urban area o the Greek caipital.

## Sports
Athens haes several lairge sports clubs lik fitball clubs AEK Athens F.C., Panathinaikos F.C. an Panionios G.S.S, basketbaa club Maroussi B.C. an handbaw club Sony Athinaikos Athens.

### Olympic Gemmes
* 1896 - The Simmer Olympic Gemmes teuk place in Athens.
* 2004 - The Simmer Olympic Gemmes teuk place in Athens.

## Internaitional relations
### Twin touns – Sister ceities
Athens is twinned wi:

* Athens, Georgie, Unitit States
*  Barcelona, Spain (1999)
*  Beijing, Cheenae (2005)
*  Beirut, Lebanon
*  Bethlehem, Palestine (1986)
*  Bucharest, Romanie
*  Chicago, Illinois, United States (1997)
*  Cusco, Peru (1991)
*  Istanbul, Turkey

*  Los Angeles, Californie, Unitit States (1984)
*  Moscow, Roushie
*  Naples, Italy
*  Nicosia, Cyprus (1988)
*  Seoul, Sooth Korea (2006)
*  Tirana, Albanie
*  Washington, D.C., Unitit States (2000)

### Pairtnerships
*  Belgrade, Serbie (1966)
*  Yerevan, Armenie (1993)
*  Paris, Fraunce (2000)
*  Santiago de Cali, Colombie

## References

## Freemit airtins

;Offeecial
* Cityofathens.gr – Ceity o Athens offeecial wabsteid
* Athens The offeecial wabsteid o the Greek Naitional Tourism Organisation