Northern Thrace
Northern Thrace or North Thrace constitutes the northern and the largest part of the historical region of Thrace. Bulgarian Thrace is located in Southern Bulgaria and refers to the whole territory south of the Balkan Mountains and east of the Mesta River; to the Greek and Turkish borders in the south and to the Black Sea in the east. It encompasses Sredna Gora, the Upper Thracian Plain and 90% of the Rhodopes. The climate differs from continental to transitional continental and mountainous. The highest temperature recorded in Bulgaria occurred here: it was at Sadovo in 1916. The important rivers of the region are the Maritsa and its tributaries. Important cities include Plovdiv, Burgas, Stara Zagora, Sliven, Haskovo, Yambol, Pazardzhik, Asenovgrad, Kardzhali, Dimitrovgrad, Kazanlak and Smolyan. Northern Thrace has an area of 42,073 km².
The Ottoman Empire created the autonomous province of Eastern Rumelia in Northern Thrace in 1878. The region was annexed to the Principality of Bulgaria in 1885.
