"Thraki" redirects here. For ships named Thraki, see SS Thraki.
Traditional region of Greece
Thrace
Θράκη
Traditional region of Greece
Thrace (blue) within Greece
Cession
1920
Replaced as administrative region by Eastern Macedonia and Thrace
1987
Capital
Komotini
Regional units
List
Xanthi
Rhodope
Evros
Government
• Deputy Minister
Stavros Kalafatis [el] (New Democracy)
Area
• Total
8,578 km2 (3,312 sq mi)
Population
• Total
371,208 (2011 census)[1]
• Density
43/km2 (110/sq mi)
Demonym
Thracian
Largest City
Alexandroupolis
Website
www.pamth.gov.gr
Western Thrace or West Thrace (Greek: [Δυτική] Θράκη, [Dytikí] Thráki[ˈθraci]) also known as Greek Thrace or Aegean Thrace, is a geographic and historical region of Greece, between the Nestos and Evros rivers in the northeast of the country; East Thrace, which lies east of the river Evros, forms the European part of Turkey, and the area to the north, in Bulgaria, is known as Northern Thrace.
Inhabited since paleolithic times, it has been under the political, cultural and linguistic influence of the Greek world since the classical era;[2][3] Greeks from the Aegean islands extensively colonized the region (especially the coastal part) and built prosperous cities such as Abdera (home of Democritus, the 5th-century B.C. philosopher who developed an atomic particle theory, and of Protagoras, a leading sophist) and Sale (near present-day Alexandroupolis).[2] Under the Byzantine Empire, Western Thrace benefited from its position close to the imperial heartland and became a center of medieval Greek commerce and culture; later, under the Ottoman Empire, a number of Muslims settled there, marking the birth of the Muslim minority of Greece.
Topographically, Thrace alternates between mountain-enclosed basins of varying size and deeply cut river valleys. It is divided into the three regional units (former prefectures): Xanthi, Rhodope and Evros, which together with the Macedonian regional units of Drama, Kavala and Thasos form the Region of East Macedonia and Thrace.
The Fourth Army Corps of the Hellenic Army has its headquarters in Xanthi; in recent years, the region has attracted international media attention after becoming a key entering point for illegal immigrants trying to enter European Union territory; Greek security forces, working together with Frontex, are also extensively deployed in the Greco-Turkish land border.
^Cite error: The named reference 2011 census was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Σαμσάρης, Δημήτριος Κ (14 January 1980). "Ο εξελληνισμός της Θράκης κατά την Ελληνική και Ρωμαϊκή αρχαιότητα". Archived from the original on 14 January 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2019 – via olympias.lib.uoi.gr. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
WesternThrace or West Thrace (Greek: [Δυτική] Θράκη, [Dytikí] Thráki [ˈθraci]) also known as Greek Thrace or Aegean Thrace, is a geographic and historical...
Turks of WesternThrace (Turkish: Batı Trakya Türkleri; Greek: Τούρκοι της Δυτικής Θράκης, romanized: Toúrkoi tis Dytikís Thrákis) are ethnic Turks who...
(Northern Thrace), northeastern Greece (WesternThrace), and the European part of Turkey (East Thrace), roughly the Roman Province of Thrace. Lands also...
Government of WesternThrace later Independent Government of WesternThrace, was a small, short-lived unrecognized republic established in WesternThrace from...
The Albanians of WesternThrace form an ethnic minority in Greek Macedonia and WesternThrace along the border with Turkey. They speak the Northern Tosk...
East Thrace or Eastern Thrace (Turkish: Doğu Trakya or simply Trakya; Greek: Ανατολική Θράκη, romanized: Anatolikí Thráki; Bulgarian: Източна Тракия, romanized: Iztochna...
along with the region of WesternThrace, and the islands of Thasos and Samothrace. The region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace was established in the 1987...
whereas the Muslims of Pomak and ethnic Turkish origin (the WesternThrace Turks) from WesternThrace were exempt from the terms of the population exchange...
of Thrace. It is located in Southern Bulgaria and includes the territory south of the Balkan Mountains and east of the Mesta River, bordering Western Thrace...
Cyprus (Meskhetian Turks), Greece (Cretan Turks, Dodecanese Turks, and WesternThrace Turks), Kosovo (Kosovan Turks), Serbia (Turks in Serbia), North Macedonia...
begun in the Eastern Rhodopes and WesternThrace. On 1 September 1913, the "Provisional Government of WesternThrace" (Garbi Trakya Hukumet i Muvakkatesi)...
The music of Thrace, a region in Southeastern Europe spread over southern Bulgaria (Northern Thrace), northeastern Greece (WesternThrace), and European...
of cities and towns in Thrace, a geographical region split between Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. The largest cities of Thrace are: Istanbul (European...
Thessaly since 1881, after the Balkan Wars in Macedonia since 1913, and WesternThrace since 1920. The last name changes occurred in 1998. Wherever possible...
Sweden; Tunisian Turks have migrated mostly to France and Italy; and WesternThrace Turks have mostly migrated to Germany and the Netherlands). More recently...
particularly the Turks of WesternThrace, began to immigrate to Germany alongside other Greek citizens. Whilst many WesternThrace Turks had intended to return...
The Federation of WesternThrace Turks in Europe (Turkish: Avrupa Batı Trakya Türk Federasyonu, short: ABTTF, Greek: Ευρωπαϊκή Ομοσπονδία Τούρκων Δυτικής...
demographics of westernThrace had been changed by the 1921 population exchange between Greece and Turkey, with the arrival of many Greeks from East Thrace in the...
group is to be found in northeastern Greece, in Greek Macedonia and WesternThrace along the border with Turkey, as a result of migration during the early...
regional unit. It is the largest city in Greek Thrace and the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, with a population of 71,751, and is an important...
This article lists kings of Thrace and Dacia, and includes Thracian, Paeonian, Celtic, Dacian, Scythian, Persian or Ancient Greek up to the point of its...
his father was Eioneus who may be connected to the historic Eion in westernThrace, at the mouth of the Strymon, and the port of the later Amphipolis....
experienced centuries of Ottoman rule, the Muslim minority of mainly WesternThrace in Northern Greece consists of several ethnic groups, some being Turkish...
northern regions of Macedonia and (Western) Thrace; thus the Thessaloniki-based Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace was known as "Ministry for Northern...
mousoulmanikí meionótita) in Thrace, Northern Greece, which numbered 120,000 according to the 2001 census and mainly consists of WesternThrace Turks, Pomaks (both...
1983, the WesternThrace Turks founded their first organisation, the Alblasserdam Batı Trakya Türkleri Cemiyeti ("Alblasserdam WesternThrace Turks Association")...
from WesternThrace, that is, the province of East Macedonia and Thrace in Northern Greece is unknown; however, it is estimated that 600-700 Western Thrace...
expelled by the Medes from Western Asia in the 600s BC. In the 6th century BC the Persian Achaemenid Empire conquered Thrace, starting in 513 BC, when...
minority group in Kosovo. They also form substantial communities in the WesternThrace region of Greece, the Dobruja region of Romania, the Akkar region in...
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