East Thrace

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Coordinates: 41°9′13″N 27°22′0″E / 41.15361°N 27.36667°E / 41.15361; 27.36667

East Thrace (blue) within the Marmara Region
East Thrace landscape in Edirne Province

East Thrace or Eastern Thrace (Turkish: Doğu Trakya or simply Trakya; Bulgarian: Източна Тракия, Iztochna Trakiya; Greek: Ανατολική Θράκη, Anatoliki Thraki), also known as Turkish Thrace or European Turkey, is the part of the modern Republic of Turkey that is geographically part of Southeast Europe, all in the eastern part of the historical region of Thrace. The area includes all the territories of the Turkish provinces Edirne, Tekirdağ and Kırklareli as well as those territories on the European continent of the provinces of Çanakkale and Istanbul. Contrary to popular belief, Karaağaç, which lies across the Maritsa River, is in West Thrace, although it is still part of Turkey.

Geography

East Thrace, which is also known as European Turkey, has an area of 23,764 km2 (3 percent of the country) and a population of about 10 million people (about 12 percent of the total); the population density is around 430 people/km2, compared to about 80 people/km2 for Asiatic Turkey, which is also called Anatolia or Asia Minor. The two are separated by the Dardanelles, the Bosphorus (collectively known as the Turkish Straits) and the Sea of Marmara, a route of about 361 km. The southernmost part of Eastern Thrace is called the Gallipoli peninsula. European Turkey is bordered on the west by Greece for 212 km and on the north by Bulgaria for 269 km, with the Aegean Sea to the south-west and the Black Sea to the north-east.[1][2]

River Maritsa (Turkish Meriç), Border of West and East Thrace

History

East Thrace was the setting for several important historical events.

  • Hero and Leander

  • Coin of Lysimachus

  • Selimiye Mosque, Edirne

  • Beach Hellas, in the Gallipoli Campaign

Prior to the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, the distribution of nationalities in the local Sanjacks was as follows:

Ottoman Official Statistics, 1910[3]
Sanjack Turks Greeks Bulgarians Others Total
Edirne 128,000 113,500 31,500 14,700 287,700
Kirk Kilisse 53,000 77,000 28,500 1,150 159,650
Tekirdağ 63,500 56,000 3,000 21,800 144,300
Gallipoli 31,500 70,500 2,000 3,200 107,200
Çatalca 18,000 48,500 N/A 2,340 68,840
Istanbul 450,000 260,000 6,000 130,000 846,000
Total
%		 744,000
46.11% 		625,500
38.76% 		71,000
4.40% 		173,190
10.74% 		1,613,690
Ecumenical Patriarchate Statistics, 1912
Total
% 		604,500
36.20%		 655,600
39.27% 		71,800
4.30% 		337,600
20.22% 		1,669,500

Provinces

The region includes all of the three provinces of Edirne, Kırklareli and Tekirdağ, as well as the European parts of the two provinces of Çanakkale and İstanbul.

Province Area
(km2)		 Population
(2012 census)[4] 		Population density
(per km2)
Provinces formerly in the Vilayet of Edirne:
Edirne 6,279 399,708 63.7
Kırklareli 6,550 341,218 52.1
Tekirdağ 6,218 852,321 137.1
Sub-total 19,047 1,593,247 83.6
İstanbul (European part) 3,421 8,963,431 2620.1
Çanakkale (European part) 1,296 64,061 49.4
Total 23,764 10,620,739 446.9

See also

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ Geography of Turkey
  3. ↑ Pentzopoulos, Dimitri (2002). The Balkan exchange of minorities and its impact on Greece. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. pp. 31–32. ISBN 978-1-85065-702-6. 
  4. ↑ [url= http://tuikapp.tuik.gov.tr/adnksdagitapp/adnks.zul?dil=2 "Turkish Statistical Institute. Registered population as of 2012"]. 
Main peninsulas
Peninsulas in Trakya
Peninsulas in Anadolu
Related Geographical Features
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