The Srebra (), also known as the Azmak (Азмак) is a river in southern

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 left tributary of the river

Maritsa Maritsa or Maritza ( ), also known as Evros ( ) and Meriç ( ), is a river that runs through the Balkans in Southeast Europe. With a length of ,

, with a length of 21 km. The river takes its source under the name Zlatoselska reka at an altitude of 696 m at 1.7 km southwest of the village of Svezhen in the mountain range of

Sredna Gora Sredna Gora ( ) is a mountain range in central Bulgaria, situated south of and parallel to the Balkan Mountains and extending from the river Iskar (river), Iskar to the west and the elbow of river Tundzha north of the city of Yambol to the east. ...

. In its upper course it flows in a deep forested valley, covered with mixed deciduous forests of Austrian oak (''

Quercus cerris ''Quercus cerris'', the Turkey oak or Austrian oak, is an oak native to south-eastern Europe and Asia Minor. It is the type species of ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris'', a section of the genus characterised by shoot buds surrounded by soft bristles, ...

''), Hungarian oak (''

Quercus frainetto ''Quercus frainetto'' (Synonym (taxonomy), synonyms ''Quercus conferta'', ''Quercus farnetto''), commonly known as the Hungarian oak, is a species of oak, native plant, native to southeastern Europe (parts of Italy, the Balkans, parts of Hungary, ...

'') and pubescent oak (''

Quercus pubescens ''Quercus pubescens'' (Synonym (taxonomy), synonyms ''virgiliana''), commonly known as the downy oak, pubescent oak or Italian oak, is a species of white oak (genus ''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus'') native to southern Europe and southwest Asia. It ...

''), with Mediterranean species such as prickly juniper (''

Juniperus oxycedrus ''Juniperus oxycedrus'', vernacularly called Cade, cade juniper, prickly juniper, prickly cedar, or sharp cedar, is a species of juniper, native across the Mediterranean region, growing on a variety of rocky sites from sea level. The specific ep ...

''). There are also shrubs of Jerusalem thorn (''

Paliurus spina-christi ''Paliurus spina-christi'', commonly known as Jerusalem thorn, garland thorn, Christ's thorn, or crown of thorns, is a species of '' Paliurus'' native to the Mediterranean region, Southwest Asia and Central Asia, from Morocco and Spain east to ...

''), common lilac (''

Syringa vulgaris ''Syringa vulgaris'', the lilac or common lilac, is a species of flowering plant in the olive family, Oleaceae. Native to the Balkan Peninsula, it is widely cultivated for its scented flowers in Europe (particularly the north and west) and Nor ...

''), dwarf everlast ('' Helichrysum arenarium'') and blackberries (''

Rubus fruticosus ''Rubus fruticosus'' L. is the ambiguous name of a European blackberry species in the genus ''Rubus'' (part of the rose family). The name has been interpreted in several ways: *The species represented by the type specimen of ''Rubus fruticosu ...

''). The Srebra then flows into the Dondukovo Reservoir and enters the

Upper Thracian Plain The Upper Thracian Plain (, ''Gornotrakiyska nizina'') constitutes the northern part of the historical region of Thrace. It is located in southern Bulgaria, between Sredna Gora mountains to the north and west, a secondary mountain chain parallel ...

at the village of Zlatosel. It flows southwards from its source to the town of Rakovski and then turns in southeastern direction, passing though the village of Belozem. It flows into the Maritsa at an altitude of 131 m at 1.4 km west of the village of Mirovo. Its

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

covers a territory of 68 km² or 0.12% of the Maritsa's total and borders the drainage basins of the

Stryama The Stryama ( , known in Antiquity as ''Syrmus'') is a river in southern Bulgaria, an important left tributary of the Maritsa. It originates in the Balkan Mountains. The river is 110 kilometres in length and is the sixth longest in the Marits ...

to the west and southwest and the Brezovska reka to the east, both left tributaries of the Maritsa. The Srebra has predominantly rain feed with high water in January–May and low water in July–October. The average annual flow is only 0.28 m³/s due to the intensive use of the water for irrigation. The river flows mostly in

Plovdiv Province Plovdiv Province (: ''Oblast Plovdiv'', former name okrug, Plovdiv okrug) is a provinces of Bulgaria, province in central southern Bulgaria. It comprises 18 municipalities (общини, ''obshtini'', sing. общинa, ''obshtina'') on a territ ...

, with a short section at its mouth in

Stara Zagora Province Stara Zagora (), formerly known as the Stara Zagora okrug, is a province of south-central Bulgaria. It is named after its administrative and industrial centre—the city of Stara Zagora—the sixth-biggest town in the country. The provin ...

. There are six settlements along its course: the villages of Zlatosel, Drangovo and Otets Kirilovo in Brezovo Municipality and the town of Rakovski and villages of Shishmantsi and Belozem in Rakovski Municipality, all of them in Plovdiv Province. Almost all of the river's waters are utilised for irrigation for the intensive agriculture in the Upper Thracian Plain.

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 Plovdiv Province Landforms of Stara Zagora Province