Maritsa in the context of "Plovdiv"

Rila (Bulgarian: Рила, pronounced [ˈriɫɐ]) is the highest mountain range of Bulgaria, the Balkan Peninsula, and of Southeast Europe. It is situated in southwestern Bulgaria and forms part of the Rila–Rhodope Massif. The highest summit is Musala at an elevation of 2,925 m which makes Rila the sixth highest mountain range in Europe after the Caucasus, the Alps, Sierra Nevada, the Pyrenees and Mount Etna, and the highest one between the Alps and the Caucasus. It spans a territory of 2,629 km with an average elevation of 1487 m. The mountain is believed to have been named after the river of the same name, which comes from the Old Bulgarian verb "рыти" meaning "to grub".

Rila has abundant water resources. Some of the Balkans' longest and deepest rivers originate from Rila, including the Maritsa, Iskar and Mesta rivers. Bulgaria's main water divide separating the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea drainage systems follows the main ridge of Rila. The mountain range is dotted with almost 200 glacial lakes such as the renowned Seven Rila Lakes, and is rich in hot springs in the fault areas at the foothills, including the hottest spring in South-eastern Europe in Sapareva Banya.

Western Thrace (Greek: Δυτική Θράκη, IPA: [ðitiˈci ˈθɾaci]), also known as Greek Thrace or Aegean Thrace, is a geographical and historical region of Greece, between the Nestos and Evros rivers in the northeast of the country; East Thrace, which lies east of the river Evros, forms the European part of Turkey, and the area to the north, in Bulgaria, is known as Northern Thrace.

Inhabited since Paleolithic times, it has been under the political, cultural and linguistic influence of the Greek world since the classical era; Greeks from the Aegean islands extensively colonized the region (especially the coastal part) and built prosperous cities such as Abdera (home of Democritus, the 5th-century BC philosopher who developed an atomic particle theory, and of Protagoras, a leading sophist) and Sale (near present-day Alexandroupolis). Under the Byzantine Empire, Western Thrace benefited from its position close to the imperial heartland and became a center of medieval Greek commerce and culture; later, under the Ottoman Empire, a number of Muslims settled there, marking the birth of the Muslim minority of Greece.

Northern Thrace or North Thrace (Bulgarian: Северна Тракия, Severna Trakiya; Turkish: Kuzey Trakya; Greek: Βόρεια Θράκη), also called Bulgarian Thrace, constitutes the northern and largest part of the historical region of Thrace. It is located in Southern Bulgaria and includes the territory south of the Balkan Mountains and east of the Mesta River, bordering Western Thrace and East Thrace in the south, and the Black Sea in the east. It encompasses Sredna Gora, the Upper Thracian Plain, and 90% of the Rhodopes.

The climate ranges from subtropical to transitional continental and mountainous. The highest temperature recorded in Bulgaria occurred here: it was 45.2 °C (113.4 °F; 318.3 K) at Sadovo in 1916. The main rivers of the region are the Maritsa and its tributaries. Notable cities include Plovdiv, Burgas, Stara Zagora, Sliven, Haskovo, Yambol, Pazardzhik, Asenovgrad, Kardzhali, Dimitrovgrad, Kazanlak and Smolyan. Northern Thrace has an area of 42,073 km.

Orestias (Greek: Ὀρεστιάς), later refounded by Hadrian as Adrianople (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), was an ancient Greek settlement next to the Evros river in Thrace, near or at the site of present-day Edirne, and close to the current border between Turkey and Greece.

41°50′N 25°55′E / 41.833°N 25.917°E / 41.833; 25.917

Haskovo Province (Bulgarian: Област Хасково, romanized: Oblast Haskovo; former name Haskovo okrug) is a province in southern Bulgaria, neighbouring Greece and Turkey to the southeast, comprising parts of the Thracian valley along the river Maritsa. It is named after its administrative and industrial centre: the city of Haskovo. The province has a territory of 5,533.3 km (2,136.4 sq mi) that is divided into 11 municipalities with a total population, as of December 2009, of 256,408 inhabitants.

Marichini Lakes (Bulgarian: Маричини езера) are a group of four glacial lakes situated in the eastern part of Rila mountain range of southwestern Bulgaria at an altitude between 2,301 m and 2,508 m. They are situated in the Marichin cirque between the summits of Blizantsite (2,779 m) to the west, Marishki Chal (2,765 m) to the south and Mancho (2,771 m) to the southeast. They are the source of the Tiha Maritsa, one of the two main stems of one of the longest rivers in the Balkans, the Maritsa. Two of the lakes are permanent; the other two dry up in summer.

The first lake is the highest, situated at an altitude of 2,508 m in a small cirque in the northern foothills of Marishki Chal. It is of variable area and dries up in summer. The second lake is located at 300 m to the northeast of the first one at an altitude of 2,374 m. It is the largest and deepest in the group with an area of 2.2 ha, length of 240 m, width of 140 m and depth of 11 m. In its south corner flows a small stream from the first lake and from its north corner flows the Tiha Maritsa. The third lake is located at 130 m to the north of the second at an altitude of 2,367 m. Its shape is roughly triangular; it has an area of 1.1 ha and depth of 5  m. The Tiha Maritsa flows in from the south and flows out to the north. The fourth lake is situated at 800 m from the third at an altitude of 2,301 m; it dries up in summer.

The Tundzha (Bulgarian: Тунджа [ˈtund͡ʒɐ]; Turkish: Tunca [tund͡ʒa]; Tonsus in antiquity) is a river in southeastern Bulgaria and northwesternmost Turkey, a left tributary of the Maritsa. With a length of 390 km, of which 350 km are in Bulgaria, it is Maritsa's longest tributary, though in terms of discharge it is second after the Arda. Tundzha Glacier on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Tundzha River.

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.