Thrace

Western Thrace (Greek: Δυτική Θράκη, IPA: [ðitiˈci ˈθɾaci]), also known as Greek Thrace, is a geographic and historical region of Greece, between the Thracian Sea and the Nestos and Evros rivers in the northeast of the country. Greek Thrace constitutes the western part of the wider geographical region of Thrace; east of the river Evros, the European part of Turkey constitutes Eastern Thrace, while to the north most of southern Bulgaria constitutes Northern Thrace. Greek Thrace is divided into 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 Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. The largest city of the region is Alexandroupolis.

Inhabited since Paleolithic times, it has been under the political, cultural and linguistic influence of the Greek world since the classical era. Under the Byzantine Empire, Western Thrace was part of the theme of Thrace and then of Macedonia and 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.