North Thrace or
Northern Thrace (as opposed to
Western Thrace and
Eastern Thrace to the south) 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 and east of the
Mesta River; to the Greek and Turkish borders in south and to the
Black Sea in east. It encompasses
Sredna Gora, the
Upper Thracian Plain and 90% of the
Rhodopes. The climate divers from continental to transitional continental and mountainous. The highest temperature recorded in Bulgaria occurred here: it was 45.2
°C at
Sadovo in 1916. Important rivers are the
Maritsa and its tributaries. Important cities include
Plovdiv,
Burgas,
Stara Zagora,
Sliven,
Haskovo,
Yambol,
Pazardzhik,
Asenovgrad,
Kardzhali,
Dimitrovgrad,
Kazanlak and
Smolyan.