Upper Thracian Plain

The Oberthrakische lowlands ( bulgar. Горнотракийска низина, Gornotrakijska nizina ) also called Mariza level, is located in South Bulgaria and is the largest plain of the country. It is part of the northern part of the historic landscape Thrace. The name derives from the ancient indigenous people - the Thracians. It is part of the Eurasian steppe belt of a large vegetation zone, which extends from Burgenland to Mongolia.

The boundaries of the Oberthrakische lowlands to the north by the Sredna Gora ( low foothills of the Balkan mountains ) and the Balkan Mountains on the south by the Rhodope Mountains. In the southeast it borders on the Sakar and the beach Saddle Mountains and on the east by the Black Sea.

During the Tertiary, the lowlands formed the basis of a sea. The low level is now 180 kilometers long, 50 kilometers wide and 168 meters high in the middle, its area is about 6000 km ². Through it flow several rivers that are important Mariza and Tundscha. Overall, the relief is flat with the exception of small hills near Plovdiv and Chirpan.

The plain is divided about the height of the hills of Chirpan in two parts, the eastern and the western lowlands Oberthrakische. The climate is continental in total, with Mediterranean influences in the southeastern part of the plane.

As the area has fertile soil and a flat relief, is used predominantly agricultural. Crops grown tomatoes, wheat, peppers, grapes, peaches, watermelons, tobacco, rice, cotton, etc.

Major cities are Bourgas, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Chirpan, Nova Zagora, Yambol, Haskovo.

• Region in Bulgaria
• Thracian culture