About 70% of the population of Magnesia live in the Greater Volos area, which is the second-largest city in Thessaly and the third busiest commercial port in Greece.

Its main agricultural products are wheat, cotton, tomatoes, grapes, olives, apples and honey.

The Pelion mountain range closes off the Gulf on the east and south side, leaving only a narrow channel near Trikeri.

The highest peak of the wooded Pelion is Pourianos Stavros or Xeforti, (altitude 1,624 metres or 5,328 feet).

The southwest border of Magnesia is formed by the Othrys, with its highest peak Gerakovouni (1,726 metres or 5,663 feet).

As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the prefecture was split into the Magnesia and Sporades regional units.

According to Hesiod's (probably) "Eoiae" (Greek: Ηοίαι) or "Catalogue of Women"[4] on the origin of the Greeks, Pandora (named after her grandmother Pandora, sister of Hellen and daughter of Deukalion and Pyrrha) together with Zeus had one son Graecus, while Zeus had two more with Thyia, another of Deukalion's daughter: Magnes and Macedon.

Five basilicas have been revealed in Nea Anhialos, showing that the area was undergoing a spiritual growth in that era.

The most famous is the Flamouriou Monastery, built in the 16th century by Osios Simeon, the so-called "barefoot and loin-clothed", located near Veneto.

In Kato Panagia Xenia monastery, an icon of the Virgin Mary, venerated by the people of the area, is kept.

The prefecture is directly linked to the rest of Europe through International Airport of Central Greece, located in Nea Anchialo a short distance from Volos.