List of rivers of Bulgaria

[[File:Bulgaria map drainage divide and river bassins.svg|thumb|600px|Map of rivers, drainage divide and main drainage basins in Bulgaria

a1 Timok

a2 Topolovets

a3 Voynishka reka

a4 Vidbol

a5 Archar

a6 Skomlya

a7 Lom

a8 Tsibritsa

a9 Ogosta

a10 Iskar

a11 Vit

a12 Osam

a13 Barata

a14 Yantra

a15 Rusenski Lom

a16 Topchiyska reka

a17 Tsaratsar

a18 Senkovets

a19 Kanagyol

a20 Suha reka

a21 Nishava

b0 Shablenska reka

b1 Batova reka

b2 Provadiyska reka

b3 Kamchiya

b18 Fandakliyska reka

b4 Dvoynitsa

b5 Hadzhiyska reka

b6 Aheloy

b7 Aytoska reka

b8 Chukarska reka

b9 Rusokastrenska reka

b10 Sredetska reka

b11 Fakiyska reka

b12 Izvorska reka

b13 Ropotamo

b14 Dyavolska reka

b15 Kitenska reka

b16 Veleka

b17 Rezovska reka

Aegean sea

c1 Struma

c2 Mesta

c3 Maritsa

c4 Arda

c5 Tundzha

c6 Luda reka]]

This is a list of rivers in Bulgaria, organised geographically, taken clockwise from the westernmost tributaries of the Danube drainage. Tributaries are listed down the page in a downstream direction, i.e. the first tributary listed is closest to the source, and tributaries of tributaries are treated similarly. The main stem (or principal) river of a catchment is labelled as (MS), right-bank tributaries are indicated by (R), left-bank tributaries by (L). Note that in general usage, the 'right or left bank of a river' refers to the right or left hand bank, as seen when looking downstream. The list encompasses most of the main rivers of Bulgaria. It includes rivers shared with other countries. There is also a list of rivers over 50 km. The Bulgarian word for river, река (transliteration reka) is often a part of the river names in the country.

Overview

There are 540 rivers in Bulgaria. The longest river in Bulgaria is the Danube (2,888 km), which spans most of the country's northern border for a length of 470 km. The longest one to run through the country (and also the deepest) is the Maritsa (480 km), while the longest river that runs solely in Bulgaria is the Iskar (368 km).

The density of rivers is highest in the mountain areas and lowest in Dobrudzha, the Danubian Plain and the Upper Thracian Plain. The territory of Bulgaria is 110,994 km2, of which 63,270 km2 fall within the Black Sea catchment bason, divided between the Danube (49,950 km2) and Black Sea Coast drainage (13,320 km2), and 47,730 km2 fall within the Aegean Sea basin, divided between the Maritsa (34,166 km2), Mesta (2,767 km2) and Struma (10,797 km2) drainage.

The Balkan Mountains divide Bulgaria into two nearly equal drainage systems. The larger system drains northward to the Black Sea, mainly by way of the Danube. This system includes the entire Danubian Plain and a stretch of land running 48–80 km inland from the coastline in the south. The Danube gets slightly more than 4% of its total volume from its Bulgarian tributaries. As it flows along the northern border, the Danube averages 1.6 to 2.4 km in width. The river's highest water levels usually occur during the May floods; it is frozen over an average of 40 days per year. The longest river located entirely in Bulgarian territory, the Iskar, with a length of 368 km and a catchment area of 8,640 km2, is the only Bulgarian Danubian tributary that does not rise in the Balkan Mountains. Instead, the Iskar has its origin in the Rila Mountains. It passes through Sofia's eastern suburbs and crosses the Balkan Mountains through a spectacular 65 km–long gorge.

The Aegean Sea catchment basin drains the Thracian Plain and most of the higher lands to the south and southwest. Several major rivers flow directly to the Aegean Sea. Many of their tributaries fall swiftly from the mountains and have cut deep, scenic gorges. The 480 km–long Maritsa (of them 321 km in Bulgaria) and its tributaries drain all of the western Thracian Plain, most of Sredna Gora, the southern slopes of the Balkan Mountains, and the northern slopes of the eastern Rhodopes. After it leaves Bulgaria, the Maritsa forms most of the Greco-Turkish border.