Thessaloniki or Salonica (Greek: Θεσσαλονίκη) is Greece's second-largest city and the capital of Macedonia. According to official data, the Thessaloniki Urban Area extends around the Thermaic Gulf for approximately 17 km and comprises 16 municipalities. According to the 2001 census, the municipality of Thessaloniki had a population of 363,987. The Thessaloniki prefecture has a population of 1,057,825.
Thessaloniki is a busy, vibrant city and it is Greece's second major economic, industrial, commercial and cultural center as well as a major transportation hub in southeastern Europe. Its commercial port is of a great importance for Greece and for its southeast European hinterland. The city has two state universities that host the largest student population in Greece. As a cultural center, it is renowned for its large number of monuments of Byzantine architecture as well as for some main Ottoman, and Jewish structures. The city is famous for its International Trade Fair which takes place at the beginning of every September; the venue is also where traditionally the Prime Minister of Greece gives a major speech to announce the government plans for the year to come. Thessaloniki is also renowned for the Thessaloniki International Film Festival which is characterized as the most significant cultural event in South Eastern Europe, attracting local and international celebrities of both cinema and theater. It also hosts the largest, bi-annual, Greek Diaspora meeting.