The city of Volos is situated in the centre of the Greek mainland, about 326 km north of Athens and 215 km south of Thessaloniki. It is a relatively new city, and according to the statistics, its growth began in 1881 when the area became part of the Greek Kingdom. During this time, the city had a population of around 4,000 citizens, mostly distributed around the old castle town (today’s Palaia district). Since then, the city’s population has multiplied, and today numbers approximately 200,000 people, including permanent and temporary citizens, as well as university students. A large proportion of the population (today, around 34% of the total) comes from the refugee community, established in the area in 1924, while another population group of almost 30% are inland immigrants from Thessaly, who first settled here in 1890 and reached their peak in the late 1970s. The remaining population is mainly from Pelion and Almyros county, and the rest of Greece. A significant number of economic migrants and refugees from Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe live in the city today. The city of Volos has always played a major role in the financial, economic, commercial and administrative matters of the region of Thessaly and Central Greece, due to the strategic position of the city's port, which stands uniquely between Athens and Thessaloniki, making it a magnet for so many different communities.