Mariza

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Mariza
Meriç, Evros, Maritza
The river (red line) is called Mariza in Bulgaria, Meriç in Turkey and Evros in Greece.

The river (red line) is called Mariza in Bulgaria, Meriç in Turkey and Evros in Greece.

Data
location Bulgaria , border river Greece , Turkey
River system Mariza
source Rila Mountains in Bulgaria
Source height 2378  m
muzzle at Alexandroupoli in the Thracian Sea ( Aegean Sea ) Coordinates: 40 ° 44 ′ 11 "  N , 26 ° 1 ′ 50"  E 40 ° 44 ′ 11 "  N , 26 ° 1 ′ 50"  E
Mouth height 0  m
Height difference 2378 m
Bottom slope 4.5 ‰
length 525 km (according to other sources 515 km)
Catchment area around 52,900 km²
Left tributaries Tundscha , Ergene
Right tributaries Arda
Big cities Plovdiv , Edirne
Medium-sized cities Dimitrovgrad , Charmanli , Svilengrad , Alexandroupoli
The Maritsa River rises from the Maritsa Lakes on Mount Mariza in the Bulgarian Rila Mountains.

The Maritsa River rises from the Maritsa Lakes on Mount Mariza in the Bulgarian Rila Mountains .

The Meriç Nehri (Mariza) near the Turkish city of Edirne.

The Meriç Nehri (Mariza) near the Turkish city of Edirne.

The Evros as a border river, photographed from Greece

The Evros as a border river, photographed from Greece

The Mariza , also written Maritza ( Bulgarian Марица , Greek Έβρος Evros , Latin Hebrus , ancient Greek Ἕβρος Hébros , Turkish Meriç Nehri ), is a river that flows through the Thrace landscape in Southeastern Europe . In its lower course it forms a small part of the border between Greece and Bulgaria and almost completely the border between Greece and Turkey .

geography

The length of the river is 515 km. It rises in the Rila Mountains in Bulgaria , then runs first in an easterly direction, flows through the Upper Thracian Plain (also called the Mariza Plain ) and the large cities of Plovdiv and Edirne , until its lower third faces south and near Keşan (not far from the ancient City of Ainos ) flows into the Aegean Sea.

The area drained by the Mariza has an area of ​​52,900 km²: 66% of this area belongs to Bulgaria (34,900 km²), 27.5% to Turkey (14,550 km²) and 6.5% to Greece (3,450 km²). In the mid-1970s, the mean water discharge over the year was 103 m³ per second. Most of the water carried the Mariza between December and April with discharge rates between 135 and 239 m³ / s. In monthly measurements between 1984 and 1994, flow rates of a minimum of 19 m³ / s, a maximum of 235 m³ / s and an average of 50 m³ / s were determined for the Evros. The water temperatures were a minimum of 0.5 ° C, a maximum of 27.5 ° C and an average of 16.1 ° C.

The water of the Mariza is characterized by high contents of potassium (1.2 mg / l), fluorine (0.53 mg / l), iron (0.05 mg / l) and manganese ions (0.013 mg / l) l) off.

Tributaries are the Arda , Erythropotamos , the Tundscha , the Watscha and the Ergene (Agrianes).

The 188 km² river delta is divided between Greece (about 90% of the area) and Turkey. In the Mariza Delta, due to its shape, the sediment-removing forces of the sea (waves) dominate over the sediment accumulation by the river. The areas of the Thracian Gulf in front of the mouth of the Mariza are shallow (water depths less than 35 m).

Economy and use

The area of ​​the Mariza has been used economically by humans intensively since ancient times. The river is said to have been navigable until the Middle Ages. In Bulgaria, tobacco , vegetables, grain and cotton are grown and livestock is raised. In the vicinity of the Mariza course there are also mines with the production of gold and uranium .

In the Turkish part of the Mariza area, grain, sunflowers and rice are grown on half of the area. In addition, sugar cane , sesame , lemons , garlic , beans and watermelons are harvested and cattle is raised.

In the Greek part there is also intensive agricultural use. The Mariza Delta is used by both Turkey and Greece for the cultivation of cotton and grain as well as for livestock. With its biodiversity and vegetation, the Mariza Delta is a well-known destination for ecotourism.

The course of the Mariza remained relatively unaffected by humans until the Second World War . This changed completely in the 1950s with the construction of dams and reservoirs, especially on the part of Turkey and Greece. Bulgaria also regulated or used the Maritsa and its tributaries through water management interventions. At the beginning of the 21st century, despite these water management measures, there was considerable flooding in the lower reaches of the Mariza.

People and cities on the river

About 2.9 million people live in the Mariza area. These are distributed among the neighboring countries Bulgaria (1.76 million, 61%), Turkey (0.99 million, 34%) and Greece (0.13 million, 5%). Cities along the river in Bulgaria are:

In Greece, the following cities and towns are located on the Evros or in its immediate vicinity:

The following cities and towns can be found on or in the immediate vicinity of the Meriç in Turkey:

For some years now, Greek and Turkish politicians have been discussing the plan to create the Evros-Meriç Euroregion on both sides of the river .

history

The Mariza has repeatedly been the scene of history. According to Greek mythology , the maenads threw Orpheus' head into the Evros, who is said to have driven to the island of Lesbos while still singing . At least the repeated occurrence of armed conflicts is certain. Examples are the battle of the Mariza and the battles of Adrianople , which took place in the area of ​​the Evros river. The Evros has been the border between Greece and Turkey since the Treaty of Sèvres in 1920 and the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923. Historically, the Evros marked the border between western and eastern Thrace .

In the Greek-Turkish section, the river is crossed by many illegal immigrants who want to enter the European Union . In 2010, 41 people whose bodies were found on the Greek side officially died. Only on a 10.9 km long border section between Nea Vyssa and Kastanies does the river flow completely on the Turkish side and can be easily crossed by means of a bridge. The Turkish side of the border is not controlled.

In 2011 the Greek government planned to build a border fence with Turkey to stop the flow of refugees from the neighboring country. The fence that the USA erected on the border with Mexico is considered a model. In 2011 the construction of a moat was started to contain the flow of refugees. In December 2012, the border fence at Evros was completed. The Greek state raised the funds for this itself. Since the fence was completed, the rate of illegal border crossings in the Evros area has dropped to almost zero.

In 2012 Turkish and Greek fishermen allegedly fished piranhas of the genus Natterers Sägesalmler in the lower course of the river.

Web links

Commons : Mariza  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Article Mariza in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (BSE) , 3rd edition 1969–1978 (Russian)http: //vorlage_gse.test/1%3D073763~2a%3DMariza~2b%3DMariza
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Theodore D. Kanellopoulos, Vasilios Kapsimalis, Serafim E. Poulos, Michael O. Angelidis, Aristomenis P. Karageorgis, Kosmas Pavlopoulos: The influence of the Evros River on the recent sedimentation of the inner shelf of the NE Aegean Sea. in: Environmental geology. New York 2007. doi: 10.1007 / s00254-007-0754-2 ISSN  0943-0105
  3. ↑ NT Skoulikidis, I. Bertahas, T. Koussouris: The environmental state of freshwater resources in Greece (rivers and lakes). in: Environmental Geology. 36.1998, 1-2 (Nov), pp. 1ff. ISSN  0943-0105
  4. ↑ Jürgen Gottschlich: Europe's largest hole. In: the daily newspaper . December 10, 2010, accessed December 10, 2010 .
  5. ↑ Athens is planning a border fence with Turkey. In: nzz.ch. January 1, 2011, accessed October 14, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Ann Löwin, "Digging at the Border," Jungle World, No. 33, August 18, 2011
  7. ↑ Video A border fence on Evros is  in the ZDFmediathek , accessed on February 3, 2014. (offline)
  8. ↑ Next piranha fished in the Mariza