The Ludogorie ( bg, Лудогорие, usually used with a definite article, Лудогорието, ''Ludogorieto'') or Deliorman (''Делиорман'', tr, Deli Orman, lit=mad forest and Bulgarian: lud - "mad", "crazy" and gora - "forest"), is a region in northeastern

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

stretching over the plateau of the same name. Major cities in the region are Targovishte, Razgrad, Dulovo,

Novi Pazar Novi Pazar ( sr-cyr, Нови Пазар, lit. "New Bazaar"; ) is a city located in the Raška District of southwestern Serbia. As of the 2011 census, the urban area has 66,527 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 100,410 inhabit ...

, Pliska, Preslav and Isperih. Part of the Danubian Plain, the region is hilly in the east, reaching up to in height near the village of Samuil, but merges with the plains of

Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; bg, Добруджа, Dobrudzha or ''Dobrudža''; ro, Dobrogea, or ; tr, Dobruca) is a historical region in the Balkans that has been divided since the 19th century between the territories of Bulgaria and Romania. I ...

and the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

to the north, with the lowest point near Yuper (). The region is bordered to the west by the Provadiya River and the

Beli Lom Beli may refer to: People * Beli ap Rhun (c. 580–c. 599), king of Gwynedd * Beli I of Alt Clut (perhaps died ''c''. 627), Brittonic king * Beli II of Alt Clut (died ''c''. died 722), Brittonic king * Ljubiša Preletačević Beli (b ...

; to the east it transitions into the

plateau. The plateau was formed of

Karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, Dolomite (rock), dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathe ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

from the

Lower Cretaceous Lower may refer to: * Lower (surname) * Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) * Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England See also *Nizhny Nizhny (russian: Ни́жний; masculine), Nizhnyaya (; feminine), or Nizhneye (russian: Н� ...

covered by

loess Loess (, ; from german: Löss ) is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loess or similar deposits. Loess is a periglacial or aeoli ...

material. Among the region's geological resources are

kaolinite Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahed ...

, fireclay and

mica Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...

. The climate is temperate continental, with up to of

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

yearly. Although the Ludogorie is poor in overground water resources, with only a few low rivers such as the Krapinets and the Kulak, it is rich in underground waters. In ancient times, the Ludogorie was inhabited by the

Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...

tribes of the

Getae The Getae ( ) or Gets ( ; grc, Γέται, singular ) were a Thracian-related tribe that once inhabited the regions to either side of the Lower Danube, in what is today northern Bulgaria and southern Romania. Both the singular form ''Get'' an ...

who left behind local architectural landmarks such as the Thracian Tomb of Sveshtari, a richly-decorated 3rd-century BC tomb that is a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

. Until the end of the 18th century, the Ludogorie was largely dominated by forests that merged with the ones of the

Balkan Mountains The Balkan mountain range (, , known locally also as Stara planina) is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe. The range is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border bet ...

(''Stara Planina'') to the south, giving the name of the region both in Bulgarian and Turkish, literally translated as "region of wild forests" in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

. In recent times, the forests have been nearly completely replaced by

arable land Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for th ...

and only the woods in the Voden Reserve are the reminiscent of the former larger forest area. The soil from the chopped down forests is a rich soil with

humus In classical soil science, humus is the dark organic matter in soil that is formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter. It is a kind of soil organic matter. It is rich in nutrients and retains moisture in the soil. Humus is the Lati ...

, very eligible for agriculture. ''Ludogorie'' is a relatively new name, a Bulgarian

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...

of the older Turkish name ''Deliorman''; it was officially introduced in 1950. In 1942, the name had been changed to ''Polesie'', a Slavic

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

meaning "place by the woods", but this name never entered common use. The Turkish name is etymologically and semantically akin to the name of

Teleorman County Teleorman County () is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in the historical region Muntenia, with its capital city at Alexandria. The name ''Teleorman'' is of Cumanic ( Turkic) origin. It literally means ''crazy forest'' ...

in southern

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. The Ludogorie mostly belongs to

Razgrad Province Razgrad Province ( bg, Област Разград (''Oblast Razgrad''), former name Razgrad okrug) is a province in Northeastern Bulgaria, geographically part of the Ludogorie region. It is named after its administrative and industrial centre ...

, with a western part in

Ruse Province Ruse Province ( bg, Област Русе, translit=Oblast Ruse), or Rusenska Oblast ( bg, Русенска област, former name Ruse okrug) is a province in northern Bulgaria, named after its main city, Ruse, neighbouring Romania via the ...

, and has a mixed population of

Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely underst ...

, Turks and

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

. The Ludogorie has attained fame for its oil wrestlers throughout time, including

Koca Yusuf Koca (a Turkish word meaning "great" or "large") may refer to: People Epithet * Koca Ragıp Pasha (1698–1763), Ottoman statesman * Koča Andjelković (1755–1789), Serbian rebel * Koca Hüsrev Mehmed Pasha (1769–1855), Ottoman admiral * K ...

and Hergeleci Ibrahim.

Ludogorie Peak Ludogorie Peak ( bg, връх Лудогорие, vrah Ludogorie, ) is a peak rising to 350 m in Friesland Ridge, Tangra Mountains in eastern Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands in Antarctica. The peak overlooks Prespa Glacier to the ...

Livingston Island Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60 ...

in the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 1 ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

bears the name of the region. PFC Ludogorets Razgrad, the football club of Razgrad, was also named after the Ludogorie region. Regions of Bulgaria

References

External links

Ludogorie.org
website of the Native Ludogorie Cultural and Educational Association
''Razgrad and the Ludogorie''
online news portal also offering online publications of the ''Ludogorski Vestnik'' newspaper {{in lang, bg Geography of Bulgaria Plateaus of Europe Geographical regions of Bulgaria Turkish toponyms