It lies on the Pierian plain, between Mount Olympus and the Thermaikos Gulf, at an altitude of 14 m. The municipality of Katerini has a population of 82,892 (according to the 2021 census).

The beaches of Kallithea, Korinos, Olympiaki Akti (or Katerinoskala), Paralia (where the 3rd Port Authority Department of Skala Katerini is located),[3] Peristasi are visited by both Greek and foreign tourists during the summer season.

Since the 13th century, travellers as well as maps record the existence of a settlement called Hatera (Ἅτηρα), which may have been the origin of the modern name.

For the remainder of the 19th century, the number of homes remained steady at about 300, with a population in 1900 of 2,070 Orthodox Christians and 600 Muslims.

[16] The city was liberated by the Greek 7th Infantry Division from the Ottoman rule and annexed to the Greece on 16 October 1912, during the First Balkan War.

Katerini is located near several villages which are renowned for their high quality products, specifically kiwis,[40][41] wines,[42][43][44][45][46][47][48] cherries,[49][50][51][52] strawberries, apples, olives, olive oil, truffle oil, truffles,[53] mushrooms, grapes, mineral water,[54][55] herbs with the most well-known being the Greek mountain tea locally in Pieria known as "Tea of Olympus", honey and honey products (propolis, royal jelly, beeswax ointment, bee pollen),[56][57] dairy products (milk, butter, kefir, yogurt), cheese (feta, kasseri, manouri, anthotyros, kefalotyri, mizithra), chickens (meat, eggs), black pigs (meat, cured meat, sausages).

The project aims to promote sustainable development practices and access to tourism and hospitality through Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)[65][66][67][68] with the collaboration of other EU selected destinations.

[73][74] It is the first municipality in Greece in which the pilot implementation of the SMARTREC Platform[75][76][77][78] for the recycling of cooking oil is taking place.

[90] Every year it operates the Trade-Craft Exhibition Activity of Pieria & Central Makedonia (EBEP-KM),[91] and the open-air market and traditional Greek festival Emporopanigyri known as Panigyri[92] in August-September, taking place at the exhibition area of the Municipality of Katerini in the Andromachi settlement.

[99] There is cultivation of tobacco in the region and a lot of people spend considerable resources for its development and for exports of the product.

[119][120] The vast majority of the tourist infrastructure, including tens of tavernas and cafes, lie in Paralia and Olympiaki Akti.

[123][124] Katerini is surrounded by ancient archaeological sites as Dion, Leivithra, Pydna, Louloudies and Platamon Castle.

[139] In 2020, Municipality of Katerini acquired a mobile (vehicle mounted frequency selective) measurement station that monitor the electromagnetic field levels from antenna stations in the frequency range 100KHz–7 GHz, which is operated and controlled by the Greek Atomic Energy Commission (EEAE),[140][141] with the aim of public information about high-frequency electromagnetic fields (EMF) levels.

The main line of the Greek railway system that connects Athens with Thessaloniki passes through Katerini.

[160] Katerini has a relatively numerous Protestant community, as a result of the organised settlement of Evangelical Greek refugees from Asia Minor and Pontus (region).

These tensions led to the arson of the Evangelical Church of Katerini from a Greek Orthodox mob in March 1930.

[161] From 2006 to 2016 was operating the Second Chance Seminary School of Katerini[194] of the Ministry of Education, that was suspended its operation since the academic year 2016–2017,[195] which was a two years public ecclesiastical lifelong learning education boarding school housed in the Ecclesiastical Guesthouse[196] of the Metropolis of Kitros, Katerini and Platamon in the Prosilio settlement.

Katerini is represented by two football teams in the national leagues; Pierikos, has its home stadium named 1st Municipal Athletic Center of Katerini, a club currently playing in the Gamma Ethniki (Third National) category, and the women's football club of Pierides Muses, playing in the Women's Gamma Ethniki category.