Tsakonia or the Tsakonian region (Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 Τσακωνιά or Τσακωνικός χώρος) describes the area of the eastern Peloponnese

Peloponnese

The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus , is a large peninsula , located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...

 where the Tsakonian language

Tsakonian language

Tsakonian, Tsaconian, Tzakonian or Tsakonic is a Hellenic language, spoken in the Tsakonian region of the Peloponnese, Greece....

 is presently spoken. It is not a formally defined political entity of the modern Greek state

Greece

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

, being more akin to such vague regional constructions as "Dixie

Dixie

Dixie is a nickname for the Southern United States.- Origin of the name :According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the origins of this nickname remain obscure. According to A Dictionary of Americanisms on Historical Principles , by Mitford M...

" in the United States or "West Country

West Country

The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of...

" in England.

In his Brief Grammar of the Tsakonian Dialect published in 1951, Prof. Thanasis Costakis

Thanasis Costakis

Thanasis Costakis was a Greek linguist and lexicographer best known for his work on the now-moribund Tsakonian language spoken in the eastern Peloponnese....

 defines Tsakonia as the area from the town of Agios Andreas in Kynouria south to Leonidio

Leonidio

Leonidio is a town and a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality South Kynouria, of which it is a municipal unit...

 and Tyros and inland as far as Kastanitsa

Kastanitsa

Kastanitsa is a village in Arcadia in Greece, on the southern slope of Mount Parnon. It is noted for its production of chestnuts, from which it takes its name, and for formerly being a majority Tsakonian-speaking settlement.-History:...

 and Sitaina, but asserts that in former times the Tsakonian-speaking area extended as far as Cape Malea

Cape Malea

Cape Maleas is a peninsula and cape in the southeast of the Peloponnese in Greece. To distinguish it from the cape, the peninsula is sometimes referred to as "Epidavros Limira" peninsula, after the most prominent ancient city located on it. It separates the Laconian Gulf in the west from the...

 in eastern Laconia

Laconia

Laconia , also known as Lacedaemonia, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparti...

. The principal town in Tsakonia at this time was Prastos

Prastos

Prastos is a settlement in Arcadia prefecture in Greece. Formerly, Prastos was the premier town of the Tsakonian region, but declined in importance after its devastation by Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt during the Greek War of Independence and a general economic migration to urban areas that occurred in...

, which benefitted from a special trading privilege granted by the authorities in Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

. Prastos was burned by Ibrahim Pasha

Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt

Ibrahim Pasha was the eldest son of Muhammad Ali, the Wāli and unrecognised Khedive of Egypt and Sudan. He served as a general in the Egyptian army that his father established during his reign, taking his first command of Egyptian forces was when he was merely a teenager...

 in the Greek War of Independence

Greek War of Independence

The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...

 and was abandoned, with many of its residents fleeing to the area around Leonidio

Leonidio

Leonidio is a town and a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality South Kynouria, of which it is a municipal unit...

 and Tyros or other spots on the Argolic Gulf

Argolic Gulf

The Argolic Gulf is a small gulf off the east coast of the Peloponnese, Greece, opening into the Aegean Sea. Its main island is Spetses. This gulf and its islands are sometimes combined with the Saronic Gulf and Saronic Islands, with the result called the Argo-Saronic Gulf and the Argo-Saronic...

.

Some early commentators seem to have confused the speech of Maniot dialect speakers with true Tsakonian, demonstrating the flexible nature of the term.

The actual Tsakonian speech community has shrunk greatly since Brief Grammar's publication, but the area delineated by Costakis is still considered "Tsakonia" due to the preservation of certain cultural traits such as the Tsakonian dance

Tsakonikos

The Tsakonikos or Tsakonikos khoros is a dance performed in the Peloponnese in Greece. It comes from the region, chiefly in Arcadia, known as Tsakonia. It is danced in many towns villages there with little variation to the steps....

and unique folk costumes.