Dervent Heights () are a hilly ridge in

Yambol Province Yambol (, ''oblast Yambol'', former name Okrug, Yambol okrug) is a province in southeastern Bulgaria, neighbouring Turkey to the south. It is named after its main city Yambol, while other towns include Straldzha, Bolyarovo and Elhovo. The provi ...

in south-eastern

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

(40%) and European

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

(60%).

Description

Sofia - Odrysian Wreath from Golyamata Mogila

Dervent Heights span 50 km from west to east and 45 km from north to south. Dervent Heights are situated between the Srem gorge of the river

Tundzha The Tundzha ( ; ; ''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, ...

in the west to the valleys of the rivers Popovska and Chengerligere in the east which separate them from the

Strandzha Strandzha (, also transliterated as ''Strandja'', ; , or ) is a mountain massif in southeastern Bulgaria and East Thrace, the European part of Turkey. It is in the southeastern part of the Balkans between the plains of Thrace to the west, th ...

mountain. To the north and the south the heights reach the plains of

Elhovo Elhovo ( ) is a Bulgarian town in Yambol Province, located on the left bank of the Tundzha river, between Strandzha and Sakar Mountain, Sakar mountains. Second largest city in the region after Jambol, the city is located at 36 km from border ...

and

Edirne Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...

. The border between Bulgaria and Turkey follows the main crest of the heights.

Geography

The crest is flat and slightly hilly reaching an altitude of 300-450 m with rounded peaks, the highest being Gyurgenbair (555 m), situated in Bulgarian territory at 2 km to the south-west of the village of Kraynovo. Dervent Heights are formed mainly by

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

. There are small deposits of iron and copper ore. There are more than 30 karst caves in the Bulgarian section. The climate is Mediterranean. Several rivers have their source in the heights, including Popovska reka (72 km), Arapliyska reka (42 km) and Boyalashka reka (33 km) (belonging to the Tundzha basin in Bulgaria), and Tatardere, Havsadere and Chengerdere (tributaries of the

Ergene Ergene (; ; ''Eryinis'', , ''Agriánēs'') is a major left tributary of the Maritsa (Meriç) river, flowing entirely in the East Thrace region of Turkey. The river rises from the southern part of Strandzha mountain, not far from the Black Sea and ...

in Turkey). Large areas of the crest and the slopes are covered with deciduous forests and pastures. The region is inhabited by 120 bird species, of them 25 are included in the Red Book of Bulgaria. Dervent heights are included in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

network of nature protection areas

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...

.Natura 2000

Settlements

In the Bulgarian part of the Dervent Heights to the north there are 20 villages:

Chernozem Chernozem ( ),; also called black soil, regur soil or black cotton soil, is a black-colored soil containing a high percentage of humus (4% to 16%) and high percentages of phosphorus and ammonia compounds. Chernozem is very fertile soil and can ...

, Golyan Dervent, Granitovo, Zlatinitsa, Kraynovo, Lalkovo, Lesovo,

Malko Kirilovo Malko (fl. 1540-1560) is the earliest king of Garo who is more than just a name in the traditions of the Oromo people. According to Werner Lange, "only the confused circumstances of his death were recalled: he is reputed to have been killed by "Gra ...

Malko Sharkovo Malko (fl. 1540-1560) is the earliest king of Garo who is more than just a name in the traditions of the Oromo people. According to Werner Lange, "only the confused circumstances of his death were recalled: he is reputed to have been killed by "Gra ...

, Malomirovo, Mamarchevo, Melnitsa, Razdel, Sharkovo, Sitovo, Slaveykovo,

Srem Syrmia ( Ekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srem, Срем, separator=" / " or Ijekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srijem, Сријем, label=none, separator=" / ") is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is ...

, Voden, Valcha Polyana and Zlatinitsa. On Turkish territory in the south there is one town, Lalapaşa, and 20 villages.

Citations

References

* {{cite book , ref={{harvid, Geographic Dictionary of Bulgaria, 1980 , title = Географски речник на България , trans-title = Geographic Dictionary of Bulgaria , last1 = Мичев (Michev) , first1 = Николай (Nikolay) , last2 = Михайлов (Mihaylov) , first2 = Цветко (Tsvetko) , last3 = Вапцаров (Vaptsarov) , first3 = Иван (Ivan) , last4 = Кираджиев (Kiradzhiev) , first4 = Светлин (Svetlin) , chapter = , year = 1980 , language = Bulgarian , publisher = Наука и култура (Nauka i kultura) , location = София (Sofia) , isbn = Hills of Europe Hills of Bulgaria Hills of Turkey Landforms of Yambol Province International mountains of Europe