Thrace (Mainland Region)
Welcome to Thrace!
Occupying the southeastern tip of the Balkan Peninsula and comprising of 3,310 sq mi (8,575 sq km), the southeastern tip of the Balkan Peninsula and comprising of Northeast of Greece, South of Bulgaria, and European Turkey, is the region of Thrace. In various periods its boundaries have varied and as a result of subsequent population movements, the ethnic composition of the various parts of Thrace now corresponds largely to the national divisions.
The Greek - Bulgarian frontier of 1919 and the Turkish - Greek frontier of 1923 were left unchanged after World War II, during which Bulgaria had occupied (1941-1944) Greek Thrace. After World War I, Bulgaria ceded the southern part of its share of Thrace to Greece by the Treaty of Neuilly (1919), thus losing its only outlet to the Aegean. By the Treaty of Sèvres (1920) Greece also obtained most of Eastern Thrace except the zone of the Straits (Bosphorus and Dardanelles) and Constantinople (Istanbul); the treaty, however, was superseded by the Treaty of Lausanne (1923), which restored to Turkey all Thrace East of the Maritsa (Meriç) River. It is washed by the Black Sea in the northeast and by the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean Sea in the south.
The natural mineral resources and fertile soil of Thrace made this area very prosperous and rich as early as in prehistory. Thrace is mainly agricultural, producing tobacco, corn, rice, wheat, silk, cotton, olive oil, and fruit. Natural gas has been discovered lately in the region.
Samothraki
Evros, Rhodope, Xanthi
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