Avas, Greece

Avas Άβας
Community
Avas
Coordinates: 40°56′N 25°55′E
Country	Greece
Administrative region	East Macedonia and Thrace
Regional unit	Evros
Municipality	Alexandroupoli
Municipal unit	Alexandroupoli
Population  (2021)[1]
• Community	486
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Vehicle registration	EB

Avas or Avantas (Greek, modern: Άβαντας, katharevousa: Άβας, Bulgarian: Дервент, Turkish: Dervent) is a village in the southern part of the Evros regional unit, Greece. Avantas is located 10 km north of Alexandroupoli. It is on the Greek National Road 53 (Alexandroupoli - Mikro Dereio - Ormenio), between Alexandroupoli to the south and Aisymi to the north. In 2021 its population was 486.

Population

Year	Population
1912	about 400
1981	555
1991	516
2001	497
2011	527
2021	486

History

The village was founded by the Ottoman Turks. Its inhabitants were 3/4 Bulgarian and 1/4 Turkish before the Balkan Wars and the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922). According to professor Lyubomir Miletich, the 1912 population contained 320 Bulgarian families.[2] Refugees from east of the Evros river and from Asia Minor arrived into the village. Its name was changed from the Turkish Dervent to the current Avas.

People

• Mitro Karabeljata, Revolutionary leader and strategist of Tane Nikolov

See also

• List of settlements in the Evros regional unit

References

1. "Αποτελέσματα Απογραφής Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2021, Μόνιμος Πληθυσμός κατά οικισμό" [Results of the 2021 Population - Housing Census, Permanent population by settlement] (in Greek). Hellenic Statistical Authority. 29 March 2024.
2. Любомиръ Милетич. Разорението на тракийскитe българи през 1913 година, Българска Академия на Науките, София, Държавна Печатница, 1918, стр. 295.