| The vastest lowland in
Bulgaria and on the Balkans, is the Upper Thrace. (Plovdiv
is the metropolis of the region). It is about 180 km long
and 50 km wide. Its overall area is 6032 square km. |
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The largest
bay is the Bourgas Bay on the Black Sea coast. It goes
31 km into the land. At its widest, it measures 41 km,
and its deepest point is 25 m. |
| The largest coastal lake
is the Varna Lake that covers an area of 18 square km.
It is also the deepest - 19 m. |
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The largest glacial lake
is Smradlivoto in the Rila Mountain. It covers 21.2 hectares. |
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The highest mountain is Rila. Its highest
peak Moussala rises to an altitude of 2925 m above the
sea level. This is the highest point on the Balkans. The
first written evidence of the peak being climbed refers
to King Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great. |
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The highest glacial lake is Popovoto,
in the Pirin Mountain, situated at 2715 m above the sea-level. |
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The highest waterfall is Raiskoto Praskalo
/Paradise Sprayer/ - 124 m. It is not far away from the
Botev peak in the Balkan Range. The total number of falls
in Bulgaria is nearly 300, 70 of which are state-guarded. |
| The only Bulgarian extinct
volcano is Kozhukh (281 m above sea level). It is not
far from the southwestern town of Petrich. |
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The greatest number of
mineral springs are to be found in the town of Velingrad
- more than 70. |
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The longest cave is close to the village
of Bosnek, in the Vitosha Mountain near Sofia - over 15
km. Six underground rivers have dug out the labyrinths
of its galleries. As many as 4000 caves have been investigated
and mapped in Bulgaria so far. |
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| The lowest temperature,
measured in an inhabited locality, was registered in the
winter of 1947 in the town of Tran, west of Sofia - minus
38.3 degrees centigrade. |
| The highest temperature
was measured in the summer of 1916 in Sadovo, near Plovdiv
- 45.2 degrees centigrade. |
| The heaviest rain was recorded
on 21 August 1951 in the neighborhood of the port of Varna,
where within only 24 hours there were rainfalls of 342
mm. The average annual precipitation for the country is
650 mm. |
| The most prolonged fog
occurred in December 1948 in Sofia - 29 days and nights.
At that same time, the fogs in Plovdiv and Lom stayed
for 28 days. |
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The hottest mineral spring is in Sapareva
Banya near the town of Dupnitsa. Its temperature is 103,
8 degrees centigrade. According to some sources, this
is the hottest spring in Europe. |
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| The oldest tree is an oak
growing in the village of Granit near Stara Zagora. Its
age is estimated at about 1650 years. The crown of this
oak-tree covers 1017 square m; the circumference of its
trunk is 7, 45 m and its height - 23, 40 m. |
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The "Baikusheva Mura"
/white fir/ in Pirin Mountain is as old as the Bulgarian
state - 1300 years. |
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The largest bear in Europe by 1936
fell a victim to man in the neighborhood of Borovets,
the famous ski resort in Rila Mountain. This “record”
was recognized as a record at an international hunting
exhibition in Berlin. |
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Bisons in the Bulgarian
lands disappeared as early as the Middle Ages. In 1961
the reserve near the town of Razgrad acquired 2 couples
of bisons and settled them in the Voden forest. Nowadays
there are several dozens of bisons in different Bulgarian
preserves. |
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The largest amphibian
is a turtle, which was caught and then set free near the
town of Krumovgrad in 1987. It weighed 5 kg, was 35 cm
long, and of the same height, 29 cm wide and 100-120 years
old - i.e. at the age limit of animals of the European
fauna. Another turtle of similar dimensions was caught
some 80 years ago in the neighborhood of Kotel, a town
in Central Bulgaria. |
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| The rarest animal species
is the Black Sea seal of which only 5-6 are left now.
They inhabit the caves along the shoreline around the
Black Sea capes of Kaliakra and Masslen. |
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The farthest migration
is that of the eels, which live in the Bulgarian rivers,
but spawn as far away as the Sargasso Sea, east of Florida,
U.S.A. |
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The longest river running
only across Bulgarian territory is Iskar - 368 km. |
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The last lynx in Bulgaria
was shot in 1941 in the Rila Mountain. |
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The last lion in the Bulgarian
lands was killed during the campaign of the Persian king
Xerxes (as evidenced by Xenophon). |
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