Demographics
The municipality of Athens has an official population of 655,780 while along with the four regional units that make up what is referred to as Greater Athens, had a combined population of 2,625,090. They together with the regional unit of Piraeus (Greater Piraeus) make up the dense urban area of Athens which reached a total population of 3,074,160 inhabitants in 2011.
The ancient site of Athens is centred on the rocky hill of the acropolis. In ancient times the port of Piraeus was a separate city, but it has now been absorbed into the Athens Urban Area. The rapid expansion of the city, which continues to this day, was initiated in the 1950s and 1960s, because of Greece's transition from an agricultural to an industrial nation. The expansion is now particularly toward the East and North East (a tendency greatly related to the new Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport and the Attiki Odos, the freeway that cuts across Attica). By this process Athens has engulfed many former suburbs and villages in Attica, and continues to do so. The table below shows the historical population of Athens in recent times.
| Year | City population | Urban population | Metro population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1833 | 4,000 | – | – |
| 1870 | 44,500 | – | – |
| 1896 | 123,000 | – | – |
| 1921 (Pre-Population exchange) | 473,000 | – | – |
| 1921 (Post-Population exchange) | 718,000 | – | – |
| 1971 | 867,023 | – | – |
| 1981 | 885,737 | – | – |
| 1991 | 772,072 | – | 3,444,358 |
| 2001 | 745,514 | 3,165,823 | 3,761,810 |
| 2011 | 655,780 | 3,074,160 | 3,737,550 |
Read more about this topic: Athens