Thrace (geographic region of Greece)

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Θράκη
Thrace
Location within Greece
Basic data
State : Greece
Administrative region : East Macedonia and Thrace
Surface: 8,578 km²
Residents: 362,038 (2001)
368,993 (2006)
Population density: 43 inhabitants per km²
FIPS code GR-THR
Website : Website of the Greek Ministry for Macedonia and Thrace

Thrace or Greek Thrace ( Greek Θράκη Thráki ), rarely also Western Thrace ( Bulgarian Западна Тракия Sapadna Trakija , Turkish Batıtrakya ) or Aegean-Thrace (Bulgarian Беломорска Тракия Belomorska Тракия is a region in western Greece , the western part of the Trakia Belomorska region) in western Greece . historical ' Thrace , which is located in what is now Greece.

The largest cities in the region are Alexandroupoli , Komotini and Xanthi .

geography

The northern Greek geographical region of Thrace ( Greek Γεωγραφικό διαμέρισμα Θράκης , geografikó diamérisma Thrákis ) occupies the western part of the geographical and historical landscape of Thrace . Today it has a population of 362,038 inhabitants (2001) and an area of ​​8578 km² . It extends over the three Greek regional districts Evros with the island of Samothraki , Rodopi and Xanthi .

Thrace borders Bulgaria in the north, the Greek region of Macedonia in the west and the Mediterranean in the south . The Evros (ancient Greek. Hebros , new Greek. Evros , bulgar. Mariza , Turkish. Meriç ) separates western Thrace from the Turkish part of Thrace in the east (see eastern Thrace ).

Historical Thrace within today's state borders

Attractions

Temple on the island of
Samothrace, part of Thrace

In general, Thrace is not very well developed for tourism and, along with Epirus, is seen as an insider tip for individual tourism in Greece. As one of the oldest cultural landscapes in Europe, it was once known for its philosophers . In the big cities you can find very well-kept museums everywhere. Everywhere in Thrace one can come across the remnants of ancient cultures and historical places. Many of them are poorly researched and little known.

population

Small border traffic from Pithion train station to Turkey

Today 362,038 inhabitants (2001) live in the Greek Thrace, mostly Greeks, many of them descendants of the Greeks expelled from Eastern Thrace (European Turkey) in the years 1914–1917 . Furthermore, people from the population exchange according to the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) , i.e. Greeks from Pontus , Anatolia and Asia Minor, as well as a number of Russia-Greeks who were settled in the 1990s. However, due to the lack of jobs in the region, the latter have largely moved to the metropolitan areas.

The rest of the population of Western Thrace are mainly Balkan Turks and Pomaks , who, together with the Muslim Roma, are only recorded as Muslim residents of Western Thrace in the statistics. Greece relies on the Lausanne Treaty for this imprecise way of collecting data . According to a study by the Athens Academy , there were 105,000 Muslims in Western Thrace in 1995. The Greek Embassy in Berlin , on the other hand, gives a figure of 120,000 Muslims in Western Thrace.

In general, the region has suffered from population emigration (regardless of ethnicity) in the past, as this represented an economic and political fringe. Far more Thracians now live abroad than in the region itself. However, hope is given by the opening of the border to Bulgaria and the closer economic exchange between Greece and neighboring Turkey.

Cities and Towns of Western Thrace

Christmas market at the clock tower of Xanthi

The main cities in the region are:

city Greek name Inhabitants
( 2001 ( Memento from December 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive ))
Alexandroupoli Αλεξανδρούπολη 52,720
Komotini Κομοτηνή 52,659
Xanthi Ξάνθη 52.271
Orestiada Ορεστιάδα 21,730
Didymoticho Διδυμότειχο 18,898

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. 2001 census, source: National Statistical Service of Greece (ΕΣΥΕ), ( PDF ( Memento of April 18, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) 875 KB)
  2. 2006 estimate, source: World Gazetteer