Rhodope (regional unit)


Rhodope is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace. Its name is derived from the Rhodope Mountains, which cover the northern part of its territory. Together with the regional units Evros and Xanthi, it forms the geographical region of Western Thrace. The capital of the prefecture is the city of Komotini. The second largest town is Sapes. Most of the Muslims of Thrace, the only officially recognized minority in Greece, are settled in this area, where they form around half of the regional unit's population.

Geography

Rhodope borders on the regional unit Xanthi to the west and Evros to the east, and on Bulgaria's Kardzhali Province to the north. The Aegean Sea lies to the south. The eastern Rhodope Mountains cover the northern part of the regional unit. Apart from the mountainous areas, the territory consists mainly of farmland, forests and grasslands.
The southern and the central part have a mainly Mediterranean climate, and the northern part a mainly continental climate with cold winters.

Administration

The regional unit Rhodope is subdivided into 4 municipalities. These are :
  • Arriana
  • Iasmos
  • Komotini
  • Maroneia-Sapes
In 2015 this regional unit has three seats in the Hellenic Parliament.

Prefecture

Rhodope was established as a prefecture in 1930, when the former Thrace Prefecture was divided into the Rhodope and Evros prefectures. In 1944 Xanthi Prefecture was created from the western part of Rhodope Prefecture. Since the 1990s Rhodope cooperated with Evros in the Rhodope-Evros Super-prefecture.
As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the prefecture was transformed into a regional unit within the East Macedonia and Thrace region, with no change in its boundaries. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below.
The Rhodope regional unit had 104,380 in accordance with the 2021 census results, a decline from 112,039 inhabitants in the 2011 census results. The capital of the Regional unit is Komotini which has an estimated urban population of 55,000. It is the largest settlement in the regional unit. It also serves as the capital of the Eastern Macedonia and Thrace administrative region.
New municipalityOld municipalitiesSeat
ArrianaArrianaFillyra
ArrianaKechrosFillyra
ArrianaOrganiFillyra
ArrianaFillyraFillyra
IasmosIasmosIasmos
IasmosAmaxadesIasmos
IasmosSostisIasmos
KomotiniKomotiniKomotini
KomotiniAigeirosKomotini
KomotiniNeo SidirochoriKomotini
Maroneia-SapesMaroneiaSapes
Maroneia-SapesSapesSapes

Provinces

  • Province of Komotini - Komotini
  • Province of Sapes - Sapes
Note: Provinces no longer hold any legal status in Greece.

Sites of interest

  1. Petrota beach
  2. Synaxi beach
  3. Marmaritsa
  4. Agios Charalampos' beach
  5. Kangeles, near Maronia
  6. Platanitis
  7. Alkyona
  8. Proskynites' beach or Kryoneri
  9. Profitis Ilias
  10. Imeros' beach
  11. Karousmilou
  12. Molyvoti
  13. Chrysophora islet
  14. Glyfada's beach
  15. Paralia Mesis
  16. Arogi's beaches
  17. Fanari beaches

    Transport