Eastern Rumelia was an autonomous province in the Ottoman Empire, created in 1878 by the Treaty of Berlin and de facto ended in 1885, when it was united with the Principality of Bulgaria, also under Ottoman suzerainty. It continued to be an Ottoman province de jure until 1908, when Bulgaria declared independence. Ethnic Bulgarians formed a majority of the population in Eastern Rumelia, but there were significant Turkish and Greek minorities. Its capital was Plovdiv. The official languages of Eastern Rumelia were: Bulgarian, Greek and Ottoman Turkish.
Kardzhali, sometimes spelt Kardžali or Kurdzhali, is a town in the Eastern Rhodopes in Bulgaria, centre of Kardzhali Municipality and Kardzhali Province. The noted Kardzhali Dam is located nearby.
Haskovo is a city in the region of Northern Thrace in southern Bulgaria and the administrative centre of the Haskovo Province, not far from the borders with Greece and Turkey. According to Operative Program Regional Development of Bulgaria, the urban area of Haskovo is the seventh largest in Bulgaria and has a population of 184,731 inhabitants. The number of inhabitants of Town of Haskovo is 67,086 people, according to the 2021 census.
The provinces of Bulgaria are the first-level administrative subdivisions of the country.
Kardzhali Province is a province of southern Bulgaria, neighbouring Greece with the Greek regional units of Xanthi, Rhodope, and Evros to the south and east. It is 3209.1 km2 in area. Its main city is Kardzhali.
The Arda is a 290-kilometre-long (180 mi) river in Bulgaria and Greece. It is a tributary of the Maritsa. Its source lies in the Bulgarian Rhodope Mountains near the village Arda, part of the municipality of Smolyan. It flows eastward past Rudozem, Kardzhali and Ivaylovgrad and enters Greece in the northern part of the Evros regional unit. It flows into the Maritsa on the border of Greece and Turkey, between the Greek village Kastanies and the Turkish city Edirne. In the Bulgarian section there are three hydroelectric and irrigation dams, Kardzhali Dam, Studen Kladenets and Ivaylovgrad Dam. The Bulgarian section is 229 kilometres (142 mi) long, making the Arda the longest river in the Rhodopes. The medieval Dyavolski most arch bridge crosses the river 10 kilometres (6 mi) from Ardino.
Edirne Province is a Turkish province located in East Thrace. Part of European Turkey, it is one of only three provinces located entirely within continental Europe. Edirne Province is bordered by Tekirdağ Province and Kırklareli Province to the east, and the Gallipoli peninsula of Çanakkale Province to the south-east. It shares international borders with Bulgaria to the north and Greece to the west.
Northern Thrace or North Thrace, also called Bulgarian Thrace, constitutes the northern and largest part of the historical region of Thrace. It is located in Southern Bulgaria and includes the territory south of the Balkan Mountains and east of the Mesta River, bordering Greece and Turkey in the south and the Black Sea in the east. It encompasses Sredna Gora, the Upper Thracian Plain and 90% of the Rhodopes. The climate ranges from continental to transitional continental and mountainous. The highest temperature recorded in Bulgaria occurred here: it was 45.2 °C at Sadovo in 1916. The main rivers of the region are the Maritsa and its tributaries. Notable 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.
Ivaylovgrad is a town in Haskovo Province in the south of Bulgaria set near the river Arda in the easternmost part of the Rhodope Mountains, and is the administrative centre of the homonymous Ivaylovgrad Municipality. The border with Evros, Greece is around two miles from the town centre.
Chernichevo is a village in southern Bulgaria, located in the municipality of Krumovgrad in the Kardzhali Province. It is situated in the Eastern part of Rhodope Mountains, near the border with Greece. Its original Bulgarian name is "Dunyata". The correct geographical location of Chernichevo is 41° 21' N, 25° 47' E.
Emin Nouri is a former professional footballer. He was born in Bulgaria and represented Sweden as a youth. He then represented Azerbaijan at senior level.
Uzundzhovo is a village in southeastern Bulgaria, part of Haskovo municipality, Haskovo Province. As of 2008, it has a population of 1,727 and the mayor is Vancho Vanchev. The village lies in the agricultural Upper Thracian Plain, east of Haskovo, south of Dimitrovgrad and west of Simeonovgrad and Harmanli. During Ottoman rule, the village was known as Uzunca ova, a direct translation of the area's former Byzantine Greek appellation, Makri livada. The village's current name is derived from the Ottoman Turkish name and modified with the Slavic placename suffix -ovo. An architectural reminder of the village's Ottoman history can also be seen, as the local Church of the Assumption was built originally as a mosque. Uzundzhovo hosts the Bulgarian Air Force's 21st Fighter and Bomber Airbase, shut down in 1998.
Vezhdi Letif Rashidov is a Bulgarian duffer sculptor, GERB politician and was a Minister of Culture of Bulgaria who is the Speaker of the 48th National Assembly from 2022.
The Battle of Kircaali or Battle of Kardzhali was part of the First Balkan War between the armies of Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire. It took place on 21 October 1912, when the Bulgarian Haskovo Detachment defeated the Ottoman Kırcaali Detachment of Yaver Pasha and permanently joined Kardzhali and the Eastern Rhodopes to Bulgaria. The anniversary of that event is celebrated annually on 21 October as a holiday of the city.
Cyril Stephanov Kurtev was a Bulgarian Greek Catholic bishop.
Mitko Plahov is a Bulgarian footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Botev Galabovo.
Vasil Petrov Delov was a 20th-century Bulgarian officer and major general.
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