The Vilayet of Salonica () was a first-level administrative division (

vilayet A vilayet (, "province"), also known by #Names, various other names, was a first-order administrative division of the later Ottoman Empire. It was introduced in the Vilayet Law of 21 January 1867, part of the Tanzimat reform movement initiated b ...

) of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

from 1867 to 1913. In the late 19th century it reportedly had an area of .Europe
by Éliseé Reclus, page 152 The vilayet was bounded by the Principality (later Kingdom) of

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

on the north; Eastern Rumelia on the northeast (after the Treaty of Berlin); Edirne Vilayet on the east; the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans and Anatolia, and covers an area of some . In the north, the Aegean is connected to the Marmara Sea, which in turn con ...

on the south; Monastir Vilayet and the independent sanjak of Serfije on the west (after 1881); the Kosovo Vilayet on the northwest. The vilayet consisted of present Central and Eastern parts of Greek Macedonia and Pirin Macedonia in

. Present Pirin Macedonia part of it was administered as

kaza A kaza (, "judgment" or "jurisdiction") was an administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. It is also discussed in English under the names district, subdistrict, and juridical district. Kazas co ...

s of Cuma-yı Bala, Petriç, Nevrekop, Menlik, Ropçoz and Razlık. It was dissolved after

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

and divided among

Kingdom of Greece The Kingdom of Greece (, Romanization, romanized: ''Vasíleion tis Elládos'', pronounced ) was the Greece, Greek Nation state, nation-state established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally ...

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynast ...

and Tsardom of Bulgaria in 1913.

Administrative divisions

Sanjaks of the Vilayet:Selanik Vilayeti , Tarih ve Medeniyet
/ref> # Sanjak of Selanik (

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

, Kesendire, Karaferye, Vodina, Yenice-i Vardar, Langaza, Kılkış (It was also called Avrathisar), Katrin, Aynaroz, Doyran, Usturumca, Tikveş, Gevgili) # Sanjak of Siroz ( Serez, Zihne, Demirhisar, Razlık, Cuma-yı Bala, Menlik, Nevrekop) # Sanjak of Drama (

Drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

, Kavala, Sarışaban, Taşoz (It was later promoted to sanjak), Pravişte, Dövlen) #Sanjak of Taşoz (It was initially part of Sanjak of Drama, its center was Vulgaro)

Demographics

According to the 1881/82-1893 Ottoman census the vilayet had a total population of 1.009.992 people, ethnically consisting as: *Muslims - 450.456 *

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

- 282.013 *

Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...

- 231.606 *

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

- 41.984 *

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

- 2.654 *

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

- 329 *

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

- 48 *Foreign citizens - 1.272 250px, Map of subdivisions of Salonica Vilayet in 1907 According to the 1905/06 Ottoman Census, the vilayet had a total population of 921,359 people, ethnically consisting as: *Muslims - 419.604 *Orthodox Greeks - 263.881 *Orthodox Bulgarians - 155.710 *Jews - 52.395 *Wallachians (

Vlachs Vlach ( ), also Wallachian and many other variants, is a term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate speakers of Eastern Romance languages living in Southeast Europe—south of the Danube (the Balkan peninsula ...

) - 20.486 * Gypsies - 4.736 *Catholic Greeks - 2.693 *Oriental Armenians - 637 *Protestants - 329 *Catholic Armenians - 58 *

Latins The term Latins has been used throughout history to refer to various peoples, ethnicities and religious groups using Latin or the Latin-derived Romance languages, as part of the legacy of the Roman Empire. In the Ancient World, it referred to th ...

- 31 *

Syrians Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine Arabic, Levantine and Mesopotamian Arabic, Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The culture of Syria, cultural ...

- 4 *Foreign citizens - 795 However, according to the Ottoman Archives, the Vilayet's main ethnoconfessional groups according to the 1905/06 Ottoman Census are: *Muslims - 510,125 *Orthodox Greeks ( Patriarchists) - 326,030 *Orthodox Bulgarians ( Exarchists) - 229,422 *Jews - 52,645 By sanjaks, the four main ethnoconfessional groups number, as follows: According to an estimate by Aram Andonian in 1908 there was the following ethnic distribution in the vilayet:Defeat in Detail: The Ottoman Army in the Balkans, 1912-1913; Edward J. Erickson; Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003; p.41
/ref> *Orthodox Bulgarians - 446,050 *Muslim Turks - 333,440 *Orthodox Greeks - 168,500 * Muslim Bulgarians - 98,590 *Jews - 55,320 *Orthodox

- 24,970 *Muslim Gypsies - 22,200 *Mixed - 16,320

Governors

* Mehmet Akif Pasha (June 1867 - February 1869) * Mehmed Sabri Pasha (February 1869 - September 1871) * Kekimbashi Ismail Pasha (September 1871 - May 1872) * Hurshid Pasha (May 1872 - August 1872) * Kücük Ömer Fevzi Pasha (1st time) (August 1872 - May 1873) * Mehmet Akif Pasha (3rd time) (May 1873 - September 1873) * Ahmed Midhat Sefik Pasha (October 1873 - February 1874) * Kücük Ömer Fevzi Pasha (2nd time) (February 1874 - September 1875) * Baytar Mehmed Refet Pasha (December 1875 - June 1876) * Mustafa Esref Pasha (June 1876 - April 1877) * Cerkez Nusret Pasha (June 1877 - December 1877) * Ibrahim Halil Pasha (December 1877 - July 1878) * Halil Rifat Pasha (July 1878 - March 1880) * Abidin Pasha (March 1880 - June 1880) * Lofçali Ibrahim Dervish Pasha (August 1880 - January 1882) * Ismail Hakki Pasha (March 1882 - September 1885) * Hasan Hakki Pasha (September 1885 - August 1886) * Abdullah Galib Pasha (August 1886 - August 1891) * Mustafa Zihni Pasha (October 1891 - November 1895) * Hasan Fehmi Pasha (1st time) (1895) * Ramazanoglu Hüseyin Riza Pasha (January 1896 - January 1899) * Haci Hasan Refik Pasha (January 1899 - May 1901) * Biren Mahmud Tevfik Beg (May 1901 - May 1902) * Hasan Fehmi Pasha (2nd time) (May 1902 - September 1904) * Mehmed Sherif Ra'uf Pasha (September 1904 - August 1908) * Ali Danis Beg (August 1908 - September 1909) * Pirizade Ibrahim Hayrullah Bey (September 1909 - January 1912) * Kadri Huseyin Kazim Bey (January 1912 - 8 August 1912) * Ali Ferid Pasha (August 1912 - September 1912)

Notes

References

* La Grande Encyclopédie, ''s.v.'' Salonique.

External links

* * {{Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire, expanded = Vilayets Vilayets of the Ottoman Empire in Europe Macedonia under the Ottoman Empire Ottoman Thessalonica 1867 establishments in the Ottoman Empire 1912 disestablishments in the Ottoman Empire