Ivaylovgrad in the context of "Arda (Maritsa tributary)"

The Arda (Bulgarian: Арда [ˈardɐ], Greek: Άρδας [ˈarðas], Turkish: Arda [ˈaɾda]) is a 290-kilometre-long (180 mi) river in Bulgaria and Greece. It is a tributary of the Maritsa (or Evros). Its source lies in the Bulgarian Rhodope Mountains near the village Arda, part of the municipality of Smolyan. It flows eastward past Rudozem, Kardzhali and Ivaylovgrad and enters Greece in the northern part of the Evros regional unit. It flows into the Maritsa on the border of Greece and Turkey, between the Greek village Kastanies and the Turkish city Edirne. In the Bulgarian section, there are three hydroelectric and irrigation dams, Kardzhali Dam, Studen Kladenets and Ivaylovgrad Dam. The Bulgarian section is 229 kilometres (142 mi) long, making the Arda the longest river in the Rhodopes. The medieval Dyavolski most arch bridge crosses the river 10 kilometres (6 mi) from Ardino.

The three floods of February 18, 2005, when the water level was at 4.8 metres (16 ft), March 1 and March 7, 2005, flooded the low-lying areas, especially the Kastanies area which turned into a lagoon. The merging of the waters of the Maritsa (Evros/Meriç) caused streets and buildings including homes to be flooded, leaving people stranded in their homes.

Mandritsa (Bulgarian: Мандрица, "Small dairy"; Albanian: Mandricë) is a village in southernmost Bulgaria, part of Ivaylovgrad municipality, Haskovo Province. It is known as the only Albanian village in Bulgaria. As of 14 December 2006, Mandritsa has a population of 75. It lies at 41°23′N 26°8′E / 41.383°N 26.133°E / 41.383; 26.133, 93 m above sea level.

Mandritsa is located on the right bank of the Byala Reka in the easternmost Rhodope Mountains, 15 km south of Ivaylovgrad and 2 km west of the Luda reka, which forms the border with Greece.

The Provisional Government of Western Thrace later Independent Government of Western Thrace, was a small, short-lived unrecognized republic established in Western Thrace from August 31 to October 25, 1913. It encompassed the area surrounded by the rivers Maritsa (Evros) in the east, Mesta (Nestos) in the west, the Rhodope Mountains in the north and the Aegean Sea in the south. Its total territory was approximately 8600 km².

The whole of Western Thrace was captured by Bulgaria during the First Balkan War and awarded to the country by the Treaty of London. During the Second Balkan War the Greek Army captured most of the area between Xanthi (İskeçe) and the Maritsa river south of Soufli without encountering resistance by the overstretched Bulgarian army which retreated to the southern slopes of the Rhodope mountains (several kilometers to the north of Xanthi and Komotini) while the Ottoman forces occupied the regions of Soufli (Sofulu), Didymoteicho (Dimetoka) and Ortaköy. After the Second Balkan War the treaty of Bucharest was signed which returned the area to Bulgaria and the Greek army withdrew from Western Thrace. Thereupon local Muslims and Greeks, with the encouragement of the Greek authorities, refused to recognize Bulgarian control of the area and petitioned the Ottoman army to occupy Western Thrace. On their invitation, the region was then occupied by small Ottoman forces, largely irregulars. While the area had been returned to Bulgaria by the Bucharest treaty, the Bulgarian army wished to avoid conflict with the Ottomans and retreated to a line coinciding with the pre-Balkan war border up to Aydoğmuş and from there along a ridge of the Rhodope mountains running west of Daridere and east of Madan up to the Bulgarian-Greek border.