ولايت ادرنه‎ Vilâyet-i Edirne
Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire
← 1867–1922 →   →   →
Edirne Vilayet in 1900
Capital		Edirne[1]
History
•	Established	1867
•	Disestablished	1922
Population
•	Muslim, 1914[2]	360,411
•	Greek, 1914[2]	224,680
•	Armenian, 1914[2]	19,773
•	Jewish, 1914[2]	22,515
Today part of		Turkey  Greece  Bulgaria

The Vilayet of Adrianople or Vilayet of Edirne (Ottoman Turkish: ولايت ادرنه‎, Vilâyet-i Edirne)^[3] was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire.

This vilayet was split between Turkey and Greece in 1923, culminating in the formation of Western and Eastern Thrace after World War I as part of the Treaty of Lausanne. A small portion of the Vilayet was given to Bulgaria in the Treaty of Bucharest (1913) after the Balkan wars. In the late 19th century it reportedly had an area of 26,160 square miles (67,800 km²).^[4] In the east it bordered with the Istanbul Vilayet, the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, in the west with the Salonica Vilayet, in the north with Eastern Rumelia (Bulgaria since 1885) and in the south with the Aegean Sea. Sometimes the area is described also as Southern Thrace,^[5] or Adrianopolitan Thrace.^[6]

After the city of Edirne (pop. in 1905 about 80,000), the principal towns were Tekirdağ (35,000), Gelibolu (25,000), Kırklareli (16,000), İskeçe (14,000), Çorlu (11,500), Dimetoka (10,000), Enez (8000), Gümülcine (8000) and Dedeağaç (3000).^[1]

Administrative divisions[edit]

Sanjaks of the Vilayet:^[7]

1. Sanjak of Edirne (Edirne, Cisr-i Mustafapaşa, Kırcaali, Dimetoka, Ortaköy, Cisr-i Ergene, Havsa. It had also kazas of Kırkkilise, Baba-yı Atik, Beykar Hisar, Maa Hatunili-Kızılağaç (Its centre was Kızılağaç) and Ferecik. Kızılağaç went to Yanbolu sanjak of Şarki Rumeli Vilayeti, Ferecik went initially to Gelibolu in 1876, later to Dedeağaç and was demoted to nahiya in 1878, Kırkkilise, Baba-yı Atik and Beykar Hisar went to recreated Kırkkilise sanjak in 1878. Beykar Hisar was demoted to nahiya in 1879)


2. Sanjak of Kirklareli (Since 1879) (Kirkkilise) (Kırkkilise, Tırnovacık, Lüleburgaz, Vize, Ahtabolu, Midye, Baba-yı Atik. Most of Tırnovacık and Ahtopol were ceded to Bulgaria in 1913. Saray separated from Vize and became kaza in 1916)


3. Sanjak of Tekirdag (Tekfurdagi) (Tekfurdağı, Çorlu, Malkara, Hayrabolu. It had also kazas Vize, Lüleburgaz and Midye till 1879, it was gone to recreated Kırkkilise sanjak)


4. 
   Sanjak of Gelibolu (Gelibolu, Maydos, Şarköy, Mürefte, Keşan. It had also Enez and Gümülcine kazas till 1878. Gümülcine promoted to sanjak in 1878. Enez went to Dedeağaç sanjak. Finally İpsala (promoted to kaza) and Enez returned to Gelibolu in 1913)


5. 
   Sanjak of Dedeağaç (1878-1912) (Dedeağaç, Sofulu, Enez)


6. 
   Sanjak of Gümülcine (1878-1912) (Gümülcine, İskeçe, Koşukavak, Ahiçelebi, Eğridere, Darıdere). The whole Sanjak was ceded to Bulgaria, with a small part to Greece in 1913.


7. Sanjak of Filibe (Filibe, Pazarcık, Hasköy, Zağra-i Atik, Kızanlık, Çırpan, Sultanyeri, Ahiçelebi) (until 1878, then it became part of Eastern Rumelia)


8. Sanjak of Slimia (İslimye, Yanbolu, Misivri, Karinabat, Aydos, Zağra-i Cedid, Ahyolu, Burgaz) (until 1878, then became part of Eastern Rumelia)

Demographics[edit]

Total population of the Adrianople Vilayet (including Eastern Rumelia) in 1878 according to the Turkish author Kemal Karpat:^[8]

Population of the groups of the Vilayet and Sanjaks according to the Ottoman census in 1906/7, in thousands, adjusted to round numbers.^[9]
The groups are counted according to the Millet System of the Ottoman Empire not according to the mother tongue, some Bulgarian-speakers were part of the Greek Rum millet and counted as Greeks, while the Muslim millet included Turks and Pomaks (Bulgarian speaking Muslims).

A publication from December 21, 1912, in the Belgian magazine Ons Volk Ontwaakt (Our Nation Awakes) estimated 1,006,500 inhabitants:^[10]

• Muslim Turks – 250,000


• 
  Muslim Bulgarians – 115,000


• Muslim Roma people – 15,000


• Orthodox Armenians – 30,000


• Orthodox Greeks – 220,000


• Orthodox Bulgarians – 370,000


• Orthodox Albanians – 3,500


• Orthodox Turks – 3,000

Sanjak of Filibe[edit]

Male population of the Filibe Sanjak of the Adrianople Vilayet in 1876 according to the British R. J. Moore:
^[11][12]

Sanjak of İslimiye[edit]

Male population of İslimiye sanjak of Adrianople Vilayet in 1873 according to Ottoman almanacs:
^[13]

Male population of İslimiye sanjak of Adrianople Vilayet in 1875 according to British R.J. Moore:
^[14]

Sanjak of Gümülcine[edit]

Total population of the Sanjak of Gümülcine of the Adrianople Vilayet In the 19th century:^[15]

Gallery[edit]

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  1907 Ottoman Turkish map of the vilayet
  

  
  

  
  


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  Ethnic map of 1912 according to Bulgarian ethnographers
  

  
  

  
  

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Adrianople Vilayet.