Western Thrace Western Thrace Western Thrace or West Thrace (, "[Dytikí] Thráki" / Turkish: Batı Trakya; , "Zapadna Trakiya" or Беломорска Тракия, "Belomorska Trakiya") is a geographic and historical region of Greece, between the Nestos and Evros rivers in the northeast of the country; East Thrace, which lies east of the river Evros, forms the European part of Turkey, and the area to the north, in Bulgaria, is known as Northern Thrace. Inhabited since paleolithic times, it has been under the political, cultural and linguistic influence of the Greek world since the classical era; Greeks from the Aegean islands extensively colonized the
Thrace (theme) Krum (r. 803–814), Omurtag (r. 814–831), and Symeon (r. 893–927) the border moved by stages south of the Balkan mountains to roughly the line of the present Bulgarian frontier with Greece and Turkey. Thus, at around the start of the 10th century, the theme comprised essentially the eastern half of modern Eastern Thrace, although it extended north along the coast to include Anchialos. From the 11th century, Thrace and Macedonia appear to have been usually combined, as attested by numerous "strategoi" and judges ("kritai") holding jurisdiction over both themes. The name fell out of use as an administrative term in