DRAMA

town and noms (department), Macedonia, northern Greece. It lies on a major tributary of the Angtis River, at the northern edge of the plain of Drma. The town, a tobacco and agricultural (cotton and rice) centre, is served by several limestone springs issuing from the base of the nearby Falakrn Mountains. In the 18th century it replaced Philippi (modern Flippoi) to the southeast as the chief town of the plain. After the departure of the Turkish inhabitants in 1922, during the war between Turkey and Greece, its population was almost doubled by the arrival of Greek refugees from Turkey. Drma is the headquarters of an army corps and the seat of a metropolitan bishop. It has a tobacco research station, rail connections, and a direct road link to the port of Kavla. Pop. (1991 prelim.) town, 39,914; noms, 96,978.