Geographically, Thrace does correspond to a specific tribe as it was inhabited by various people in ancient times. The Thracians moved to the southeast regions of Europe after the Greeks around the 12th century BC.

In the 7th century BC the Greeks from the Eastern Aegean islands and the Ionian towns of Asia Minor settled along the coast of Thrace.

The great Odrysian state was established in the 4th century BC which, at its prime, covered the area from the Strymona River to the Black Sea and from the Aegean Sea to the Danube River. The Kings of the Odrysians were subdued by the Macedonians in 342BC and later, fill the fall of the Macedonians in 168BC, they were taken over by the Romans.

The Odrysian Kingdom came to an end in 47BC and Thrace was officially a roman province with Perinthos as its capital. The Greek cities of Thrace maintained a free city regime.

The Ottomans first invaded Thrace in 1348AD but they were defeated by the imperial army and retracted. They returned in 1361 though and took over the areas of Didimoticho and Andrianoupolis. During the Greek Revolution of 1821 the Thracians made significant contributions.

The liberation of Thrace came during WWI when the Germans were defeated and the Greek army took over Western and Eastern Thrace (1920). On 28th July 1920 the Serbian Treaty conceded the resignation of Western Thrace to the Greek state.