Fourka
Municipal unit in Greece
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fourka (Greek: Φούρκα; Aromanian: Furca)[2] is a village and a former community in the Ioannina regional unit, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Konitsa, of which it is a municipal unit.[3] The municipal unit has an area of 32.374 km2.[4] Population 56 (2021).[1]
Fourka
| |
|---|---|
 Location within the regional unit | |
  Fourka | |
| Coordinates: 40°10′N 20°57′E | |
| Country | Greece |
| Administrative region | Epirus |
| Regional unit | Ioannina |
| Municipality | Konitsa |
| Area | |
| • Municipal unit | 32.374 km2 (12.500 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 1,360 m (4,460 ft) |
| Population (2021)[1] | |
| • Municipal unit | 56 |
| • Municipal unit density | 1.7/km2 (4.5/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Postal code | 440 08 |
| Vehicle registration | ΙΝ |
| Website | www |
Name
The toponym is derived either from the Aromanian furca meaning 'the fork, or distaff' or from a Latin loan rendered as fourka in common modern Greek, stemming from the medieval Greek fourka and originating from Latin furca.[5] The word also exists in Romanian as furca and Albanian as furk/ë with the same meaning.[5]
Linguist Kostas Oikonomou wrote the name relates to the geography of the land, as the village according to local tradition was located at Paluhoară, a place resembling a fourka and formed by two pits called Visani and Louri.[6] Local tradition attributes the name to forks placed alongside the road leading into the village, so people would not get lost in fog, snow or storm weather conditions.[7]
