The Thessaloniki Urban Area (Greek: Πολεοδομικό Συγκρότημα Θεσσαλονίκης) is the contiguous densely built-up urban area around the municipality of Thessaloniki, Greece, which is the second largest municipality by population in the country behind Athens. The contiguous built-up area consists of 13 municipalities and forms the urban core of the Thessaloniki Metropolitan Area. This urban area is referred to as the "City of Thessaloniki", as there is no clear visual distinction or geographic barrier between the municipality of Thessaloniki and the other municipalities of the area. The largest of the municipalities, in terms of population is the municipality of Thessaloniki and is commonly called and referred to as the Kentro, meaning 'center' or 'downtown'. In the 2001 Greek census, the municipalities of the urban area had a combined population of 786,212 inhabitants, while their combined land area was 111.703 km².

Following the Kallikratis reform, as of 1 January 2011, the 13 municipalities that made up the urban area are now reduced to six self-governing municipalities (Greek: Δήμοι) and one municipal unit (Greek: Δημοτική ενότητα).

Thessaloniki (Greek: Θεσσαλονίκη [θesaloˈnici] ( listen)), also known as Thessalonica ( /ˌθɛsəlɵˈnaɪkə/) and historically known as Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace. Its honorific title is Συμπρωτεύουσα (Symprotévusa), literally "co-capital", and stands as a reference to its historical status as the Συμβασιλεύουσα (Symvasilévousa), "co-reigning" city of the Byzantine Empire, alongside Constantinople.

According to the 2011 census the municipality of Thessaloniki today has a population of 322,240, while the Thessaloniki Urban Area (the contiguous built up area forming the "City of Thessaloniki") has a population of 790,824; making it the fifth largest and most populated city in the Balkans and the second most populated city that is not a capital. Furthermore, the Thessaloniki Metropolitan Area extends over an area of 1,455.62 km² (562.02 sq mi) and its population in 2011 reached a total of 1,006,730 inhabitants.

An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.

Urban areas are created and further developed by the process of urbanization. Measuring the extent of an urban area helps in analyzing population density and urban sprawl, and in determining urban and rural populations.^{[citation needed]}

Unlike an urban area, a metropolitan area includes not only the urban area, but also satellite cities plus intervening rural land that is socio-economically connected to the urban core city, typically by employment ties through commuting, with the urban core city being the primary labor market. In fact, urbanized areas agglomerate and grow as the core population/economic activity center within a larger metropolitan area or envelope.

In the US, Metropolitan areas tend to be defined using counties or county sized political units as building blocks of much larger, albeit more condensed population units. Counties tend to be stable political boundaries; economists prefer to work with economic and social statistics based on metropolitan areas. Urbanized areas are a more relevant statistic for determining per capita land usage and densities.^{[citation needed]}

Dimitris Mitropanos (Greek: Δημήτρης Μητροπάνος) (2 April 1948 – 17 April 2012) was a Greek singer. He was renowned for his mastery of Laïkó, a Greek music style.

Mitropanos lived in his native city of Trikala in northwest Thessaly until the age of 16, beginning his musical career in 1964.

He worked with some of the best known Greek composers, such as Mikis Theodorakis,Stavros Xarhakos, Giorgos Zabetas , Manos Hadjidakis, Marios Tokas and Thanos Mikroutsikos, and was one of the top performers of Greek popular music for over four decades.

From an early age Mitropanos worked summers to help his family financially. First as a waiter in his uncle's restaurant and later at ribbon cutting wood. After the third grade of junior high, in 1964, he went to Athens to live with his uncle in the Acharnon street. Before finishing high school he began working as a singer.

At the same age, after the encouragement of Grigoris Bithikotsis, whom he met at a gathering at his uncle's company at which he sang, Mitropanos visited Columbia. There, Takis Lampropoulos introduced him το Giorgos Zampetas, with whom he worked alongside at "Ksimeromata." Mitropanos considered Giorgos Zampetas to be a great teacher and a second father to himself. As he stated, ' Zambetas is the only man in the song which helped me not to expect anything. With all my other colleagues got something and gave something» . In 1966 Mitropanos met Mikis Theodorakis and sang the party songs "Romiosini "and" Axion Esti "in a series of concerts in Greece and Cyprus.