Northern Thrace or North Thrace (Bulgarian: Северна Тракия, Severna Trakiya; Turkish: Kuzey Trakya; Greek: Βόρεια Θράκη), also called Bulgarian Thrace, constitutes the northern and largest part of the historical region 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 and East Thrace in the south, and the Black Sea in the east. It encompasses Sredna Gora, the Upper Thracian Plain, and 90% of the Rhodopes.

Northern Thrace is the part of Thrace within Bulgaria

The climate ranges from subtropical to transitional continental and mountainous. The highest temperature recorded in Bulgaria occurred here: it was 45.2 °C (113.4 °F; 318.3 K) at Sadovo in 1916. The main rivers of the region are the Maritsa and its tributaries. Notable cities include Plovdiv, Burgas, Stara Zagora, Sliven, Haskovo, Yambol, Pazardzhik, Asenovgrad, Kardzhali, Dimitrovgrad, Kazanlak and Smolyan. Northern Thrace has an area of 42,073 km2.

The Ottoman Empire created the autonomous province of Eastern Rumelia in Northern Thrace in 1878. The region was annexed by the Principality of Bulgaria in 1885.[1]

Demographics

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The ethnic composition of the population of Eastern Rumelia.

Ethnic group census 1880 census 1884
Number % Number %
Bulgarians 573,560 70.3% 681,734 70.0%
Turks 174,700 21.4% 200,489 20.6%
Greeks 42,456 5.2% 53,028 5.4%
Roma (Gypsies) 19,149 2.3% 27,190 2.8%
Jews 4,177 0.5% 6,982 0.7%
Armenians 1,306 0.1% 1,865 0.2%
Total 815,951 975,030

The population's ethnic composition in the Bulgarian provinces of Burgas, Haskovo, Kardzhali, Pazardzhik, Plovdiv, Sliven, Smolyan, Stara Zagora and Yambol.

Ethnic group census 2001 census 2011
Number % Number %
Bulgarians 2,247,532 80.94% 1,856,647 72.91%
Turks 315,858 11.37% 258,757 10.16%
Roma (Gypsies) 155,954 5.62% 141,538 5.56%
Russians 5,185 0.19% 16,538 0.65%
Armenians 5,163 0.19%
Greeks 1,432 0.05%
Jews 253 0.01%
Others 8,473 0.31%
Undeclared 36,958 1.33% 273,151 10.73%
Total 2,776,808 2,546,631

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: L-R, James Minahan, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002, ISBN 0-313-32111-6, p. 1518.

42°15′00″N 26°00′00″E / 42.2500°N 26.0000°E / 42.2500; 26.0000