Chania, Greece

Chaniá is the second largest city of Crete and the capital of the Chania Prefecture. It lies along the north coast of the island, about 70 km (43 mi) west of Rethymno and 145 km (90 mi) west of Heraklion. The official population of the municipal area is 57,838 but around 130,000 people live in the greater area of Chania. With 4,248.1 inhabitants/km², the municipality is the most densely populated in Greece outside the Athens and Thessaloniki metropolitan areas.

Fortunately, Chania and Crete in general escaped the disastrous consequences of the Greek Civil War of the postwar years. The city of Chania was slowly regaining its normal pace of development during the 1950s, trying to overcome the difficulties that the war had left as an aftermath. During the 1970s Crete became a major tourist destination for Greek and international tourists, something that gave a significant boost to the city's economy and affected the everyday life and the overall culture of the locals. The capital of Crete was moved to Heraklion in 1971. Chania and the rest of the island of Crete, unline the mainland of Greece, it is not suffering from the economical crisis, as the local economy is based on the horticulture products like the olive oil.