Chania (regional unit)

This article is about the region of Chania. For the city of Chania, see Chania.

Chania Περιφερειακή ενότητα Χανίων
Regional unit
Municipalities of Chania
Chania Chania within Greece
Coordinates: 35°25′N 23°55′E
Country	Greece
Administrative region	Crete
Seat	Chania
Area
• Total	2,376 km2 (917 sq mi)
Population  (2021)
• Total	156,706
• Density	66/km2 (170/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Postal code	73x xx, 740 55
Area code(s)	282x0, 28310
Vehicle registration	ΧΝ
Website	www.chania.gr

Chania (Greek: Περιφερειακή ενότητα Χανίων), also spelled Hania, is one of the four regional units of Crete; it covers the westernmost quarter of the island. Its capital is the city of Chania. Chania borders only one other regional unit: that of Rethymno to the east. The western part of Crete is bounded to the north by the Cretan Sea (part of the Aegean Sea) and to the west and south by the Mediterranean Sea and Libyan Sea. The regional unit also includes the southernmost island of Europe, Gavdos.

Geography

Chania regional unit, often informally termed 'Western Crete', is a part of the island which includes the capital Chania, and the districts of Platanias and Apokoronas in the north, and Sfakia and Selino in the far south west corner. Other towns in the Chania prefecture include Hora Sfakion, Kissamos, Palaiochora, Maleme, Vryses, Vamos, Georgioupolis and Kalives.

The natural park of Samariá Gorge, a tourist attraction and a refuge for the rare Cretan wild goat or kri-kri, is in the South of the regional unit.

The White Mountains or Lefka Ori, through which the Samaria, Aradena, Imbros and other gorges run, are the limestone peaks topped by snow until May that occupy much of Chania regional unit. They contain more than 40 peaks over 2,000 meters high. The highest peak in this area is Mt Pachnes, at 2,453 meters above sea level (Crete’s second highest peak). Other prominent peaks are Mt Agkathes (1,511 m) in the eastern Lefka Ori, and Mt Agios Dikaios (1,182 m) in the far west.

The regional unit also includes three headlands, known as the "three heads" of Crete. From west to east, they are: Gramvousa peninsula (with a peak of 762 m), Rodopos peninsula, also known as Spatha (with a peak of 749 m), and Akrotiri (with a peak of 523 m). The Apokoronas region also has a prominent peak (527 m).

Western Crete is popular with tourists for its spring flowers that linger on into early May in the mountains. Birdwatching is also common, with the lammergeier and golden eagle especially sought for. As an island, Crete has many endemic species of plant and animal.

Crete's only freshwater lake, Lake Kournas, is in the regional unit close to the border with Rethymno regional unit, 47 km from Chania. It is relatively large, with a perimeter of 3.5 km. The lake used to be called 'Korisia' after ancient 'Korion', a city thought to be in the area with a temple to Athena. The lake used to be reportedly full of eels but now is better known for its terrapins and tourists. Tavernas and bicycle rental shops line part of the shore.

There are numerous rivers in the Chania region most flowing from the White Mountains to the north coast. These include, from west to east, the Tavronitis, Keritis (Iardanos), Kladissos, Koiliaris, Almiros, Delfinos and Mouselas rivers.

Chania is the regional unit of Crete that receives the most precipitation. The Exkursionsflora von Kreta by Jahn & Schoenfelder has a precipitation map and text confirming that in general, western Crete (Chania prefecture) has more precipitation than any other region on an average basis.

Administration

The regional unit Chania is subdivided into seven municipalities. These are (number as in the map in the infobox):

• Apokoronas (2)
• Chania (1)
• Gavdos (3)
• Kantanos-Selino (4)
• Kissamos (5)
• Platanias (6)
• Sfakia (7)

Prefecture

The Chania prefecture (Greek: Νομός Χανίων) was created while Crete was still an autonomous state, and was preserved after the island joined Greece in 1913. As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the Chania regional unit was created out of the former prefecture. The prefecture had the same territory as the present regional unit. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below.

New municipality	Old municipalities	Seat
Apokoronas	Armenoi	Vryses
	Asi Gonia
	Vamos
	Georgioupoli
	Kryonerida
	Fres
Chania	Chania	Chania
	Akrotiri
	Eleftherios Venizelos
	Keramia
	Nea Kydonia
	Souda
	Theriso
Gavdos	Gavdos	Gavdos
Kantanos-Selino	Kantanos	Palaiochora
	East Selino
	Pelekanos
Kissamos	Kissamos	Kissamos
	Inachori
	Mythimna
Platanias	Platanias	Gerani
	Voukolies
	Kolymvari
	Mousouroi
Sfakia	Sfakia	Sfakia

Provinces

The provinces were:

• Apokoronas Province - Vamos
• Kissamos Province - Kissamos
• Kydonia Province - Chania
• Selino Province - Kandanos
• Sfakia Province - Chora Sfakion

Communications

• Kydon TV

Notable people

• Eleftherios Venizelos (1864–1936), prime minister of Greece
• Michael Bletsas, Director of Computing at the MIT Media Lab
• Constantinos Daskalakis, Assistant Professor at MIT

See also

• List of settlements in the Chania regional unit
• Chania (constituency)

External links

• Municipalities of Chania: Δήμοι Νομού Χανίων
• Wildflowers of Western Crete

Maps

• Map of Chania region Archived 2021-04-21 at the Wayback Machine
• Wikimapia Chania Region
• Explore Chania – Travel Guide – Vacation & Trip Ideas—guide