Читать книгу Walking in Bulgaria's National Parks. Pirin, Rila and Central Balkans National Parks онлайн

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View towards Popovo Ezero, with Sivriya (2593m) to the left and Dzhengal (2730m) to the right (Walk 10, Day 1)

Geography

Bulgaria lies in the southeastern corner of Europe, and has the rough outline of a large irregular rectangle some 520km from west to east and 330km from north to south. The country makes up about one-fifth of the Balkan Peninsula, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south. Its eastern boundary is formed by a 378km stretch of the Black Sea’s western shore.

Bulgaria has 37 distinct mountain ranges, of which 14 can be classed as ‘high mountains’ over 1600m. These include eight mountain ranges which reach altitudes of over 2000m – Rila (2925m), Pirin (2914m), Stara Planina (2376m), Vitosha (2290m), Osogovo (2254m), Slavyanka (2212m), Rodopi (2191m) and Belasitsa (2029m).

Cascade formed by the River Odzhovitsa below hizha Belmeken (Walk 8, Day 1)

Climate

Bulgaria lies on the boundary between continental and Mediterranean climatic zones. The significance of these competing climatic influences is, however, greatly controlled and modified by the country’s mountains. Most significant is the Stara Planina range, which runs west to east right across Bulgaria, helping to hinder cooler and wetter continental air masses as they move in from the north. Likewise, the Rodopi Mountains, which occupy a large part of southern Bulgaria, tend to hold up any Mediterranean weather systems coming in from the south. This means that the central part of the country, between these two major mountain ranges, represents a transitional climatic zone. Surprisingly, the influence of the Black Sea on Bulgaria’s overall climate is very limited, and really only has an impact on a narrow coastal strip.