Magnesia Prefecture

Magnesia Prefecture (Greek: Νομός Μαγνησίας) was one of the prefectures of Greece. Its capital was Volos. It was established in 1899 from the Larissa Prefecture. The prefecture was disbanded on 1 January 2011 by the Kallikratis programme, and split into the regional units of Magnesia and the Sporades.

Magnesia Prefecture Νομός Μαγνησίας
Former prefecture
Location of Magnesia Prefecture in Greece
Country	Greece
Periphery	Thessaly
Established	1899
Disestablished	2011
Capital	Volos
Area
• Total	2,367 km2 (914 sq mi)
• Rank	List of the prefectures of Greece by area
Population  (2001)
• Total	193,439
• Rank	List of the prefectures of Greece by population
• Density	82/km2 (210/sq mi)

The toponym is ancient to the region. Ore that attracts iron is common in Magnesia, which is the origin of words such as magnet and magnetism^[1] as well as the chemical elements magnesium, derived from the mineral magnesia alba, and manganese, derived from the mineral magnesia nigra via Latin.