Arcadia is a region in the central Peloponnese peninsula of southern Greece. The Arcadians were one of the oldest tribes of Ancient Greece, and they were a relative tribe of the indigenous Pelasgians; they were named for the hunter-turned-king Arcas, and the Arcadians participated in the Trojan War, arriving in the Troad on ships borrowed from King Agamemnon (Arcadia was landlocked and thus had no navy). Following the Dorian invasion in 1200 BC, the mountainous region of Arcadia became a cultural refuge for Mycenaean culture, and the continued usage of the Mycenaean language led to the formation of the Arcadocypriot Greek dialect. Arcadia was once known as the "Breadbasket of the Peloponnese" for its great agricultural output, and it was also famed as the home of the Greek god of wilderness, Pan. By the 5th century BC, Arcadia produced high quantities of wheat, other crops, and honey from its bee farms, and it was commonly said that there were more animals in the city of Tegea than people. During the Peloponnesian War, under the rule of Archon Lagos, Arcadia allied with Sparta and Corinth, and, during the Theban hegemony, the Theban general Epaminondas backed the Arcadian federation in order to keep Sparta in check; he proceeded to found the city of Megalopolis, which became Arcadia's new capital. Over the next several centuries, Arcadia weakened, coming under Macedonian rule and joining the Achaean League. Into the Middle Ages, Arcadia remained an idyllic, beautiful, and secluded area, and Arcadia was one of the centers of the Greek War of Independence during the 1820s. In the 20th century, Arcadia experienced extensive population loss through emigration to the Americas, and, by 2011, the population had declined to 87,000 people.
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