Mesta River
Encyclopedia
The Nestos or Mesta , formerly the Mesta Karasu (Ottoman Turkish), is a river in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

 and Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

. It rises in the Rila Mountains and flows into the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...

 near the island of Thasos
Thasos
Thasos or Thassos is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea, close to the coast of Thrace and the plain of the river Nestos but geographically part of Macedonia. It is the northernmost Greek island, and 12th largest by area...

. It plunges down towering canyons toward the Aegean Sea through mostly metamorphic formations. At the end, the main stream spreads over the coastal plain of Chrysoupolis and expands as a deltaic system with freshwater lakes and ponds forming the Nestos delta.The length of the river is 230 km, of which 126 km in Bulgaria and the rest in Greece. It forms some gorges in Rila and Pirin
Pirin
The Pirin Mountains are a mountain range in southwestern Bulgaria, with Vihren the highest peak, situated at . The range extends about 40 km northwest-southeast, and about 25 km wide. Most of the range is protected in the Pirin National Park...

.

The Mesta's longest tributary is the Dospat River
Dospat River
The Dospat is a river in the Western Rhodope Mountains, the most important tributary of the Mesta.It takes its source from Bulgaria, from the 1643-metre-high Rozov vrah and flows southeast until Dospat Dam, after which it makes a turn southwest to continue generally to the south and flow into the...

. The banks of the river are covered mainly by deciduous trees that extend into halfway between Bulgaria and Greece where it forms the modern boundary of Greek Macedonia and Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...

, as well as the boundary between the Kavala
Kavala Prefecture
Kavala is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the of East Macedonia and Thrace. Its capital is the town of Kavala. Kavala regional unit is the easternmost within the geographical region of Macedonia.-Geography:...

 and the Xanthi
Xanthi Prefecture
Xanthi is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Region of East Macedonia and Thrace. The capital is Xanthi. Together with the regional units Rhodope and Evros, it forms the geographical region of Western Thrace.-Geography:...

 prefectures, having first crossed the Drama prefecture
Drama Prefecture
Drama is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Region of East Macedonia and Thrace. Its capital is the town of Drama. The regional unit is the northernmost within the geographical region of Macedonia and the westernmost in the administrative region of East Macedonia and Thrace...

. The river later forms a delta to the north where swamplands, wetlands and a lagoon once existed except in the east.

Honour

Mesta Peak
Mesta Peak
Mesta Peak is a conspicuous, sharp and narrow rocky peak extending 500 m in east-west direction and rising to approximately 400 m in Delchev Ridge, Tangra Mountains, eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica...

 on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands
South Shetland Islands
The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands, lying about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, with a total area of . By the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the Islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are free for use by any signatory for...

, Antarctica is named after Mesta River.
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