What is the geography of East Thrace?

East Thrace, also known as European Turkey, is the portion of Turkey located geographically in Southeast Europe. It covers a small percentage of Turkey's total land area and is separated from Asian Turkey by the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara, and the Bosphorus straits. The region holds major geostrategic importance because it borders a critical sea trade corridor connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.

What we know

• East Thrace is the part of Turkey that is geographically located in Southeast Europe. [1, 2]
• East Thrace accounts for 3% of Turkey's land area, covering an area of 23,764 square kilometers. [2]
• European Turkey and Asian Turkey are separated by a roughly 361-kilometer route consisting of the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara, and the Bosphorus Straits. [2]
• The wider region of Thrace is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Sea to the east. [3]

Where to go next

• the bigger pictureWhat is the broader region of Thrace?
• compared withHow does Western Thrace compare to East Thrace?
• how it workedWhat water bodies separate European and Asian Turkey?
• a case in pointHow does Istanbul straddle Europe and Asia?
• what followedWhat high-speed rail networks connect through East Thrace?
• an unexpected connectionWhy do some guest workers in Germany originally hail from Kırklareli Province?Due to a historical guest worker agreement between Turkey and Germany, a portion of the Turkish community in Germany traces its roots back to East Thrace's Kırklareli Province.

Sources

• [1]East Thrace (Wikidata Q171323) · CC0 1.0
• [2]East Thrace · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Thrace · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Ismarus (Thrace) · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Western Thrace · CC BY-SA 4.0