Luda Kamchiya ( , ) is river in 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 ...

, the main tributary of the river

Kamchiya The Kamchiya (also Kamchia and Kamčija, ) is a river in eastern Bulgaria. From its longest source, Golyama Kamchiya (Big Kamchiya), it has a total length of (. The river Kamchiya proper starts from the confluence of the two rivers springing ...

. Reaching 201 km, it is longer than the main stem of the Kamchiya, the Golyama Kamchiya (199 km), and is the tenth longest river in the country.

Geography

The Luda Kamchia River originates from a spring at an altitude of 1,109 m on the north foothills of Mount Vratnik in the Sliven Mountain division of the

Balkan Mountains The Balkan mountain range is located in the eastern part of the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. It then runs f ...

. It flows in a deep forested valley, covered with deciduous woods. The valley widens downstream from the village of Gradets and forms large meanders. From the source to the village of Daskotna the Luda Kamchiya flows in general an easterly direction between the Razboyna Ridge, Kotlenska Mountain and Varbishka Mountain to the north and the Sliven, Stidovska and Karnobat mountains to the south, all of them subdivisions of the Balkan Mountains. It then turns northeast, forming the deep

Luda Kamchiya Gorge The Luda Kamchiya Gorge is a gorge in the Balkan Mountains (Stara Planina) in Bulgaria. It connects Dalgopol and Karnobat. The road and railroad follow the course of the Kamchiya River. This is one of the important railway routes between northern a ...

between the Varbishka Mountain to the northwest and the Kamchiyska Mountain to the southeast, exiting the gorge at Tsonevo. The river joins the Golyama Kamchiya at an altitude of 26 m at village of Velichkovo, giving rise to the

river proper. Its drainage basin covers a territory of 1,612 km² or 30.1% of the Kamchiya's total. It borders the basins of the Golyama Kamchiya to the north, the

Yantra Yantra (; 'machine'/'contraption') is a geometrical diagram, mainly from the Tantric traditions of the Indian religions. Yantras are used for the worship of deities in temples or at home; as an aid in meditation; and for the benefits believe ...

to the northwest, and the

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, ...

, the Aytoska reka and the Hadzhiyska reka to the south. The largest tributaries are the Kotlenska reka (25 km, left) and the Golyama reka (25 km, right). The Luda Kamchiya has a rain–snow feed. High water is in February–March and low water is in August–September. The average annual discharge is 11.4 m³/s at Asparuhovo.

Settlements and economy

The river flows in

Sliven Sliven ( ) is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality in Northern Thrace. It is situated in the Sliven Valley at the foothills of th ...

Burgas Burgas (, ), sometimes transliterated as Bourgas, is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, fourth-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, an ...

and

Varna Province Varna Province (), formerly known as Varna okrug, is a province in eastern Bulgaria, one of the 28 Bulgarian provinces. It comprises 12 municipalities with a population of 494,216 as of April 2016.Rakovo, Ichera and Gradets in Sliven Province, Dabovitsa, Beronovo, Vezenkovo,

, Zavet, Daskotina,

Bilka Bilka is a Danish chain of hypermarkets. The first store opened in 1970 in Tilst, a suburb of Aarhus. The chain was founded by Herman Salling and is now a part of Salling Group. Name The name ''Bilka'' is derived from the German ''Billiges K ...

and Dobromir in Burgas Province, and Asparuhovo and Tsonevo in Varna Province. The Luda Kamchiya is utilized for irrigation and potable water, including for the two largest Bulgarian

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

cities,

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city ** Varna Province ** Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna ** Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis * Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy * Varna (Šabac), a village in Serbia Asia * Var ...

and

. There are two major reservoirs along its course,

and Tsonevo. At the latter, rising over the river banks are located the Chudnite Skali, a formation of ten 40–50 m high rock needles, shaped like castle towers. Its valley is an important transport route, traversed by a section of railway line No. 3

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

–

Karlovo Karlovo ( ) is a historically important town in central Bulgaria located in a fertile valley along the river Stryama at the southern foot of the Balkan Mountains. It is administratively part of Plovdiv Province and has a population of about 1 ...

–Varna served by the

Bulgarian State Railways The Bulgarian State Railways (, abbreviated as БДЖ, BDZ or BDŽ) are Bulgaria's state railway company and former largest railway carrier in the country, established as an entity in 1888. The company's headquarters are located in the capital So ...

, one of the three railway crossings of the Balkan Mountains. There two roads along its valley, a 24.1 km stretch of the third class III-208 road Vetrino–

Dalgopol Dalgopol (, ; also transliterated ''Dǎlgopol'') is a town in northeastern Bulgaria, part of Varna Province. It is the administrative centre of Dalgopol Municipality, which lies in the southwestern part of the Province. As of December 2009, the to ...

–

Aytos Aytos ( ), sometimes written Aitos and Ajtos, is a town located in eastern Bulgaria some 30 kilometers from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and belonging to the administrative boundaries of Burgas Province. It is the administrative centre of the ...

follows the Luda Kamchiya between Asparuhovo and Daskotina, and a 10.5 km section of the third class III-488 road Gradets–

follows it between Gradets and Ichera.

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 = Rivers of Bulgaria Landforms of Sliven Province Landforms of Burgas Province Landforms of Varna Province