Kilkis

Kilkis (Greek Κιλκίς [kʲilˈkʲis], Bulgarian/Macedonian Кукуш Kukush, Turkish Kılkış) is a town and municipality (Greek Δήμος Dimos) in the Greek region of Central Macedonia. Since the 2010 Greek administrative reform, which expanded the municipality's territory to include six neighboring municipalities (Cherso, Doirani, Gallikos, Kroussa, Mouries and Pikrolimni), Kilkis is the fourth largest municipality in the country by area. The neighbouring municipality of Peonia to the west and Kilkis are now the only two municipalities of the regional district of Kilkis, which corresponds to the territory of the former prefecture of Kilkis.

The core town of Kilkis with (2011) about 51,990 inhabitants is situated in a hilly landscape about 280 m above sea level.

Greece named one of its few battleships (ex Mississippi BB-23) after the town of Kilkis.

History

In 1873 the town had about 5500 inhabitants, in 1905 - about 10,000, with Bulgarians in the majority and two primary schools and a grammar school.

During the Second Balkan War in 1913, the city was severely damaged. On 21 June, after three days of fighting, the Greek army captured Kilkis and expelled the Bulgarian population living there. By the time it was incorporated into the Greek state in 1913, it had only 1600 inhabitants, most of whom came from neighbouring villages.

Kilkis experienced a major growth spurt due to the large number of refugees who settled there in the 1920s. These were mostly Pontos Greeks; others were from Asia Minor and from Bulgaria. In 1928 it had about 6500 inhabitants.

In 1934, it was officially designated the economic and administrative center of the entire region; in the years leading up to World War II, it became more urban. Wehrmacht troops conquered Greece in the Balkan campaign. Kilkis was part of the German occupation zone. In the autumn of 1944, the occupying forces withdrew from Greece.

In 1997, the former Municipality (Dimos) of Kilkis was merged with other localities to form a new (enlarged) Municipality of Kilkis as part of the Greek local government reform. The municipality area grew from 87.45 km² to 319.834 km², the number of inhabitants from 19,358 (1991) to 24,874 (2001), with the town of Kilkis itself having the largest share in the increase (1981 11,148 inhabitants, 1991 12,139 inhabitants, 2001 19,247 inhabitants).

Economy

From 1974 to 2001, the German medium-sized company Stiebel Eltron produced solar systems (solar collectors) here. ALUMIL Milonas produces semi-finished aluminium products in Kilkis. The Kleemann Group, a major manufacturer of lifts and escalators, is also based in the town.