Balkan Mountains

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The Balkan mountains runs through Bulgaria from east to west and lies partly in Serbia.

The peak Botev peak in the Central Balkan National Park

The main ridge of the Middle Balkan summit Ambaritsa

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The Balkan Mountains ( short Balkans / Балкан Cyrillic ), Bulgarian and Serbian Stara Planina (Cyrillic Стара планина ), is a tertiary fold mountain in South East Europe, whose main ridge is located in the present-day Bulgaria. After the mountains, the Balkan Peninsula was named.

In the area of the mountain were a national park, four natural parks ( Sinite Kamani, Balgarka, Wratschanski Balkan and Stara Planina ) and installed several nature reserves and protected areas for the protection of flora and fauna.

Name

In ancient times, the Balkan Mountains Hemus ( Bulg Хемус ) was called, Greek Αίμος; Thracian Haemus, latin Haemus.

Between the 14th and 17th century, the Ottoman Turks conquered the area gradually and were about to the end of the 19th century the dominant power there. The name comes from the Balkans, therefore, Turkish language and means " steep mountain range ", " Area (s ) with many trees, shrubs and bushes " or " mountain ( s) with many forests ".

Furthermore, there's also a mountain range of the same name in Turkmenistan with the name Big Balkans ( " Uly Balkans " ), also there is still the province of Balkan Welaýaty with capital Balkanabat. It is very likely in view of this fact, that the name Balkan has just been transferred to this same mountain range in Southeastern Europe, as the ancestors of the Ottomans and Turks, called Oghuz, originate from this area in Central Asia.

The Bulgarians and Serbs call the mountains today the Stara Planina ( old mountain ', Стара планина ), where the term Balkans is also parallel in use in Bulgarian.

Geography

Location and division

The Balkan mountain range is about 600 km long, runs along the northern edge of the Balkan Peninsula to the plains of the lower Danube from west to east. The mountain range forms a natural northern boundary of the landscape Thrace. The mountains with rounded shapes mountain is steeply to the south and is crossed by many passports, of which the Shipka Pass and the Pass of the Republic are the most important. In addition, it is intersected by several rift valleys, of which that of the Iskar is most powerful. The highest peak is Botev peak of ( 2376 m).

The mountain range is (also High Balkans ) and the Eastern Balkans ( also Little Balkans) as well as from north to south in Vorbalkan (also Predbalkan ), the main ridge and Subbalkan (also Podbalkan ) divided from west to east in the Western Balkans, Middle Balkans. To the west of up to 2169 m ( Midžor ) High West Balkan forms the natural border between Serbia and Bulgaria. The western border of the Middle Balkans is marked by the Iskar breakthrough or the Pass of Botevgrad and the Eastern Balkans ( also Little Balkan ) begins at Wratnikpass.

In the Eastern Balkans, the heights decrease and the hills dissolve in some parallel running chains on ( Kotlenska, Warbischka, Kamtschijska Planina to the north, Sliwenska, Stidowska, Karnobatska, Eminska planina in the middle, Grebenez, Tersijski bair, Chisar, Ajtoska Planina south). Only the middle main chain ranges with a clear mountain character right up to the Black Sea coast, where the Eminska planina ends with the cape Emine. The ridge line remains mostly below the treeline (1900 m), but also beyond outstanding mountain parts over a wide area, covered by pastures. Between the eastern parallel chains, there are longitudinal valleys, the most extensive is drained by the river Luda Kamtschija.

The main ridge of the Balkan Mountains ( Bulg подобласт на Главната Старопланинаска верига / podoblast na Glavnata Staroplaninska Veriga ), with the peak Botev peak in its center, goes north across the Vorbalkan the northern Bulgarian plate ( also Moesian platform ) over. The main ridge and the Vorbalkan form the large landscape of the Balkan chain system ( Bulg Област на Старопланинска верижна система / Oblast na Staroplaninska verischna sistema ).

To the south of the Balkan main chain falls steeply to the basins of the Subbalkan that already the second major landscape, the so-called mountain - basin transition zone ( Bulg Преходна блоково - разломна планинско - котловинна област / Prehodna blokovo - razlomna Planinsko - kotlovinna oblast ) are expected. These basins represent grave -like, from west to east consecutive lowering represents the northern boundary is a powerful fault line. The most important among them are the Topolnitsa the river flowed through pools of Zlatitsa and Pirdop, the basin of Karlovo with the Strjama as the main river, which are separated by the Koznizapass and the basin of Kazanlak. The latter are also summarized the so-called Rosental. Due to the elongated pole Kazanlasko the Tundscha flows in an easterly direction. The eastern part of this basin with Twardiza as the capital is secreted through the mountains Debelez and Mezdenik. Less pronounced the Beck character of Sliwensko is pole, which is traversed by the Tundscha and in its eastern part of the Motschuriza and while in the north gora mainly by the mountains of the Balkan Mountains Grebenez and Terzijski bair, in the south of the eastern foothills of Sarnena and the hills of Bakadschizi is limited.

The zone of Subbalkan Basin is bounded on the south by the Sredna Gora (also Srednogorie, German low mountain range) with which they ( подобласт / Srednogorsko - Podbalkanska podoblast Bulg Средногорско - Подбалканска ) form the Sredna gora - Podbalkan transition zone.

Geology

The folding phase of the Balkan Mountains is assumed in the Paleogene. The Alpine mountain folding phase appertaining, are the Balkanzug and the Carpathian arch structurally cohesive parts of the northern Alpine mountain chain. Geologic structure referred to as Carpatho - Balkan Arc, this occupies a substantial part of the north central and eastern Balkans south of the Danube. Geologically, the Balkans determined by a zonal structure of the north-south trending rock structures. This zonal strike is broken up by tectonic rotations in the north and south, which are characterizing the curving mountain arc. Rocks of the Proterozoic to the Quaternary build on the mountain. These are predominantly acidic metamorphic plutonic rocks ( gneiss ) of the Sredna Gora. Interspersed many cases there are limestones and to a lesser extent dolomite of Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous. The thickness of these sediments can be well over 1000 m. Limestones of the Triassic, however, are rare. They can be found on the ceiling of Permian sandstones in the Western Balkans and the Eastern Stara Planina.

Relief

The relief of the Balkan Mountains is determined in particular in the Stara Planina, and on the south side of the Central Balkans by an abrupt increase, on the north side but through a gradual transition from the loess-covered Danube Plain. On the north side the zertalte foothills and the Balkans takes a height between 250 and 600 m. In contrast, the rugged slopes of the south side of the central Balkan Capping plane from Bulgaria seamlessly.

Economy

In the higher elevations is predominantly sheep farming and operated in the deciduous forests forestry. In the fertile valleys dominates agriculture. Also located in the region of significant coal reserves.

Sheep farming in Stara Planina, the ( Karakačanska ovca ), whose wool is made of long, elastic fibers of 30-40 microns diameter Zackel indigenous sheep types, especially the white Pirot ( Pirotska Pramenka ) and dark Karakatschaner sheep, presented the basis of the historically traditional kilim weaving in the manufacturing places of Pirot and Tschiprowzier Kelime. With wool production developed in the Stara Planina and the historical production centers maintained by Orthodox Slavs Şarköy weavings in western Bulgaria.

To the preservation of traditional indigenous sheep is now increased attention, because it is still remained the basis for today's kilim production in the Stara Planina. From the formerly significant cooker livestock remained on the Serbian side but by 2009 only about 500-1000 left Pirot, such as 100 Karakatschaner sheep.

The sheep of Stara Planina went there originally to the needs of cheese production back, one of which Kačkavlj produced here was introduced by nomadic Karakačanen in the Stara Planina beginning of the 19th century. In addition to the wool for the kilim weavings of hard cheese was the most important commodity in the economic relations Pirots, Caribrods and Tschiprowitzs in the Ottoman Empire.

Conservation projects of indigenous breeds of domestic animals of the Stara Planina are currently being undertaken in the development of organic -run farms.

Gallery

In Pravets

Cape Emine