Athens
This article is about the Greek city of Athens. For other uses see Athens (disambiguation)
Founded 850 BC, the city of Athens (Αθηνα) was named after the goddess Athena, and is the capital of Greece. Athens was home to one of the earliest recorded formal democracies, and is the site of the Acropolis and its Parthenon. The ancient port city of Piraeus has been absorbed by modern Athens.
As of the 2001 census of the National Statistical Service of Greece, Athens has a population of 3,761,810, making it by far Greece's largest city, with over a third of the country's total population (10,964,020).
It is served by a newly constructed and opened airport, the Eleftherios Venizelos Airport, about a 40-minute taxi ride from the city centre (depending upon traffic). The current airport replaced Ellinikon International Airport, which was infamous for widespread bad service.
Historical population
1853: 30,600 inhabitants
1879: 65,500
1896: 123,000
1925: 443,000
Athens was the host of the 1896 Olympics, the 1906 Intermediary Olympics and will be the host of the 2004 Summer Olympics.
See also: Athenian democracy, Athenian empire
