Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH) was established in July 1973. It is based in Komotini

Komotini

Komotini is a city in Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace and of the Rhodope regional unit. It is also the administrative center of the Rhodope-Evros super-prefecture. The city is home to the Democritus University of Thrace, founded in 1973...

, Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 and has campuses in the Thracian

Western Thrace

Western Thrace or simply Thrace is a geographic and historical region of Greece, located between the Nestos and Evros rivers in the northeast of the country. Together with the regions of Macedonia and Epirus, it is often referred to informally as northern Greece...

 cities of Xanthi

Xanthi

Xanthi ; is a city in Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Xanthi peripheral unit of the periphery of East Macedonia and Thrace.-History:...

, Alexandroupoli

Alexandroupoli

Alexandroupoli , is a city of Greece and the capital of the Evros peripheral unit in Thrace. Named after King Alexander, it is an important port and commercial center of northeastern Greece.-Name:...

 and Orestiada

Orestiada

Orestiada is the northeasternmost and northernmost city of Greece and the second largest city of the Evros peripheral unit of Thrace. The population is around 25,000. Orestiada is only 2 km west of the banks of the Evros, which forms a natural border between Greece and Turkey...

. The university accepted the first students in the academic year 1974–1975. It was named after the ancient Greek philosopher Democritus

Democritus

Democritus was an Ancient Greek philosopher born in Abdera, Thrace, Greece. He was an influential pre-Socratic philosopher and pupil of Leucippus, who formulated an atomic theory for the cosmos....

 who was born in the city of Avdira.

DUTH has two faculties and twenty departments in four cities — nine in Komotini, five in Xanthi, four in Alexandroupoli and two in Orestiada.