The Tsibritsa (, ; also

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...

as ''Cibrica'', ''Tzibritza''; ) is a river in the western Danubian Plain of northern

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 ...

and a right tributary of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

. Its length is 88 km.

Geography

The river originates under the name Selska bara north of the summit of Kostin Vrah (871 m) in the Shiroka Planina division of the Fore-Balkan, a mountainous chain straddling north of and in parallel with 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 ...

. At the village of Klisuritsa it receives its tributary the Klisuritsa, enters the Danubian Plain and turns east. At Dalgodeltsi the river bends northeast for the rest of its course and flows in a wide asymmetrical valley with steeper rights banks. The Tsibritsa flows into the Danube at an altitude of 27 m some 700 m east of the village of Dolni Tsibar. Its drainage basin covers a territory of 938 km² and is situated between the basins of the rivers Lom to the northwest and the Ogosta to the southeast. The main tributaries are the Dushilnitsa (35 km) and the Tsibar (30 km), both of them left. The river has predominantly rain–snow feed with high water in March–April. The average annual discharge at its mouth is 2 m³/s.

Settlements and economy

The Tsibritsa flows entirely in

Montana Province Montana Province (, transliterated: ''Oblast Montana'') is a Provinces of Bulgaria, province in northwestern Bulgaria, bordering Serbia in the southwest and Romania in the north. It spreads its area between the Danube river and the Balkan Mountai ...

. There are 11 settlements along its course, one town and ten villages — Smolyanovtsi, Klisuritsa and Bezdenitsa in Montana Municipality, Dolno Tserovene, Dalgodeltsi and Yakimovo in Yakimovo Municipality, and Cherni Vrah, Valchedram (town), Razgrad, Zlatia and

Ignatovo Ignatovo is a village in Valchedram Municipality, Montana Province, northwestern Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly sou ...

Valchedram Municipality Valchedram Municipality () is a frontier municipality ('' obshtina'') in Montana Province, Northwestern Bulgaria, located along the right bank of Danube river in the Danubian Plain. It is named after its administrative centre - the town of Valc ...

. The river's waters are used for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

. The low plateau between the Tsibritsa to the west and the Ogosta to the east is known as Zlatia and is a fertile agricultural region. Along its left bank between Dolno Tserovene and Dolni Tsibar runs a 37.2 km section of the third class III-818 road. In the Antiquity the region was inhabited by the

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

tribe of the Triballi. In 1972 near the village of Yakimovo a Thracian treasure was discovered, consisting of several silver vessels, dated from the 2nd—1st century BC.

Citations

References

* * {{cite book , title=Българска енциклопедия А-Я , publisher=БАН, Труд, Сирма , language=Bulgarian , year=2002 , chapter=Цибрица , isbn=954-8104-08-3 , oclc=163361648 Rivers of Bulgaria Landforms of Montana Province