The Dospat (; , ) is a river in the Western

Rhodope Mountains The Rhodopes (; bg, Родопи, ; el, Ροδόπη, ''Rodopi''; tr, Rodoplar) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in ...

, the most important tributary of the

Mesta The ''Mesta'' () was a powerful association protecting livestock owners and their animals in the Crown of Castile that was incorporated in the 13th century and was dissolved in 1836. Although best known for its organisation of the annual migrat ...

. It takes its source from

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

, from the 1643-metre-high Rozov vrah ("Rose Peak") and flows southeast until

Dospat Dam Dospat Reservoir ( bg, язовир Доспат) is situated in the western part of the Rhodope Mountains, Bulgaria. The reservoir (formed by a dam in the town of Dospat, west of Smolyan) stretches nearly northwest to the city of Sarnitsa. A ...

, after which it makes a turn southwest to continue generally to the south and flow into the Mesta as a left tributary near the village Mikrokleisoura on

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

territory just south of the Greek-Bulgarian border. The Dospat has a

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

of 633.5 km². Its length is 110 km, of which 79 in BulgariaStatistical Yearbook 2017

National Statistical Institute (Bulgaria) The National Statistical Institute or NSI ( bg, Национален статистически институт or НСИ) is the Bulgarian state agency responsible for the collection and dissemination of statistical data on the population, ec ...

, p. 17 and 21 in Greece. For a small distance of 3 km it forms the Greek–Bulgarian border.

References

Rivers of Bulgaria Rivers of Greece Landforms of Smolyan Province Landforms of Pazardzhik Province Rhodope Mountains Geography of Thrace Chech International rivers of Europe Landforms of Drama (regional unit) Rivers of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Bulgaria–Greece border Border rivers {{Greece-river-stub