The Malki Iskar (, meaning ''Lesser Iskar'') is a 85 km-long river in western

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 ...

, a right tributary of the river

Iskar Iskar may refer to: ;Bulgaria * Iskar (river), a river in western Bulgaria * Iskar Reservoir, situated on the Iskar River * Iskar (town), a town in the Iskar Municipality of the Pleven Province * Iskar Municipality * Iskar, Sofia, one of 24 munici ...

. It is the largest tributary of the Iskar.

Geography

The river takes its source under the name ''Ravna reka'' at an altitude of 1,573 m, about 300 m northwest of the summit of Murgana (1,639 m) in the Etropole Mountain 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 ...

. Until the town of

Etropole Etropole (, ) List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, is a town in western Bulgaria, part of Sofia Province. It is located close to the northern slopes of the Balkan Mountains in the valley of the Iskar River, from Sofia. History The area was first ...

the river flows in northwestern direction in a deep forested valley. In the southern neighbourhoods of the town the Malki Iskar turns to the northeast, flows through the Etropole Valley and enters in a gorge after the village of Laga. At the village of Malki Iskar it turns to the northeast, flows through the Dzhurkovo Valley and downstream of the village of Vidrare it turns westwards and enter another gorge. It again changes direction to the north at Kalugerovo, its valley widens and flows into the Iskar at an altitude of 146 m near the town of

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

. Its drainage basin covers a territory of 1,284 km² or 14.9% of Iskar's total. It drains the entire northeastern regions of

Sofia Province Sofia Province () is a province (''oblast'') of Bulgaria. The province does not include Sofia in its territories, but Sofia remains the seat of its administration. The province borders on the provinces of Pernik, Kyustendil, Blagoevgrad, Paz ...

. It largest tributary is the

Bebresh The Bebresh () is a 46 km-long river in western Bulgaria, a left tributary of the river Malki Iskar, itself a right tributary of the Iskar. It is the largest tributary of the Malki Iskar. Geography The Bebresh takes its source under the n ...

(46 km). The Malki Iskar has rain-snow feed with high water in April–June and low water in August–October. The average annual discharge at the village of Svode is 9.1 m³/s.

Settlements and economy

The river flows in Sofia and

Vratsa Province Vratsa Province ( ''Oblast Vraca'', former name Vraca okrug) is a Bulgarian province located in the northwestern part of the country, between Danube river in the north and Stara Planina mountain in the south. It is named after its main town: ...

s. There are ten settlements along its course: the town of Etropole and the villages of Laga and Malki Iskar in Etropole Municipality, and the villages of

Dzhurovo Dzhurovo is a village in Bulgaria. It is situated in Pravets municipality, Sofia region Sofia is a Regions of Madagascar, region in northern Madagascar. It is named for the Sofia River. It is the second largest Malagasy region (behind Atsimo-A ...

, Vidrare, Kalugerovo and Svode in

Pravets Municipality Pravets or Pravetz (, also transliterated as Pravec, ) is a town in Pravets Municipality in central western Bulgaria, located approximately from the capital Sofia. Pravets is home town of Pravetz computers. Pravets has a population of 4,512 peo ...

, and the village of Sredni Rat and Karash and the town of Roman in

Roman Municipality Roman Municipality is a municipality in Vratsa Province, Bulgaria. Demography Religion According to the latest Bulgarian census of 2011, the religious composition, among those who answered the optional question on religious identification, was the ...

. In its upper course a 38.4 km stretch of the second class II-37 road

Yablanitsa Yablanitsa (; also ''Jablanica'', ''Iablanica'', ''Yablanica'', ''Jablanitsa'', ''Iablanitsa'', ''Jablanitza'', ''Yablanitza'', ''Iablanitza'', ) is a small town in the westernmost part of Lovech Province, central-north Bulgaria, located in the a ...

–

Pazardzhik Pazardzhik ( ) is a city situated along the banks of the Maritsa river, southern Bulgaria. It is the centre of Pazardzhik Province and Pazardzhik Municipality. It is located in the Upper Thracian Plain and in the Pazardzhik-Plovdiv Field, a ...

–

Dospat Dospat () is a town in the very south of Bulgaria, part of Smolyan Province, situated in the Rhodope Mountains, close to Dospat Dam. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Dospat Municipality. As of December 2010, the town had a popul ...

follows the river from the vicinity of its source close to the Zlatitsa Pass to Dzhurovo. Along its lower course is a 28.4 km stretch of the third class III-308 road Osikovska Lakavitsa–Roman, between Kalugerovo and Roman. Significant part of its waters are utilised for industrial needs, especially the large Elatsite copper mine, which made the river prone to pollution until a treatment plant was put into operation in 2009. To a lesser extend, the waters are used for irrigation, mainly along the lower course of Malki Iskar.

Gallery

File:Malki Iskar River near Svode 4.jpg File:Malki Iskar River near Svode 1.jpg File:Malak-Iskar-river.jpg

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 Sofia Province Landforms of Vratsa Province