Maritsa
Maritsa is a river in Southeast Europe that travels through the Balkans. It is the longest river in the Balkan peninsula, with a length of 480 kilometers (300 miles), and one of the greatest in Europe by discharge. In its upper and middle reaches, it runs through Bulgaria, while its lower course forms much of the border between Greece and Turkey. It has a drainage area of around 53,000 km2 (20,000 sq mi), 66.2 percent of which is in Bulgaria, 27.5 percent in Turkey, and 6.3 percent in Greece. It is the primary river of Thrace's historical region, with the majority of its drainage basin.
Its source is in Western Bulgaria's Rila Mountains, and it flows east-southeast between the Balkan and Rhodope Mountains, past Plovdiv and Dimitrovgrad to Edirne in Turkey. The river flows eastwards east of Svilengrad, Bulgaria, forming the border between Bulgaria (on the north bank) and Greece (on the south bank), and then between Turkey and Greece. The river meets its two main tributaries, the Tundzha and the Arda, at Edirne, and runs within Turkish territory on both sides. It then bends south, forming a river delta between Greece on the west bank and Turkey on the east bank all the way to the Aegean Sea, which it reaches near Enez. The upper Maritsa valley is a principal east–west route in Bulgaria. The unnavigable river is used for power production and irrigation.
The lower course of the river Maritsa, which forms the Greek-Turkish border, is particularly prone to floods. Every year, the lowlands around the river are inundated for nearly four months. This has a huge economic impact (loss of agricultural production and infrastructural damage), estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of euros.
Large floods occurred in 2006, 2007, and 2014, with the greatest flood occurring in 2021. More rainfall owing to climate change, deforestation in the Bulgarian part of the catchment area, increased land usage in flood plains, and limited communication between the three nations have all been suggested as possible causes.
Length: 480 km (300 mi)
