Iasmos

Iasmos (Greek: Ίασμος, romanized: Íasmos) is a municipality of the Rhodope regional unit, located in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Greece. Its administrative seat is the municipal unit (town) of Iasmos. As of 2021, it had a population of 12,247 people, with significant Sarakatsani and Muslim minority communities. The municipality has an area of 485.285 square kilometres (187.370 sq mi), while the municipal unit covers 221.795 square kilometres (85.636 sq mi). The area of the municipality before the 2011 local government reforms was 200,403 stremmas (200.403 kilometres (124.525 mi)), with roughly three-fifths classified as mountainous or semi-mountainous and the remaining two-fifths as lowland plains. The municipality can thus be split into two geographical zones: a lowland area of fertile plains in the south, which extends along the southern foothills of the Rhodope Mountains, and a forested mountainous region in the southern and southwestern parts of the municipality. Feral horses and goats can be found in the mountainous areas. The municipality of Iasmos shares borders with the municipal unit of Satres in the Xanthi regional unit to the northwest, the country of Bulgaria to the northeast, the municipal unit of Amaxades to the west, the municipal units of Sostis and Aigeiros to the east, and Lake Vistonida to the southwest. The municipality of Iasmos was established through the merger of the former towns (communities) of Iasmos, Ambrosia, and Salpi. It originally comprised the following 11 settlements: Iasmos, Ambrosia, Palladio, Mikros Palladio, Salpi, Glykoneri, Dialampi, Kopteros, Mosaico, Galini, and Ippikos.