# Struma (river)

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{{Short description|River in Bulgaria and Greece}}
{{Infobox river
 | name              = Struma (Струма), Strymónas (Στρυμόνας)
 | image             = Struma_Balkan_topo_de.jpg
 | image_caption     = The course of the Struma in Bulgaria and Greece (marked in red)
 | source1_location  = The south slopes of [Vitosha](/source/Vitosha), Bulgaria
 | mouth_location    = North [Aegean Sea](/source/Aegean_Sea), [Greece](/source/Greece)
 | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|40|47|9|N|23|50|56|E|display=inline,title}}
 | subdivision_type1 = Countries
 | subdivision_name1 = [Bulgaria](/source/Bulgaria) and [Greece](/source/Greece)
 | length_km = 415
 | source1_elevation = {{convert|2,180|m|ft|abbr=on}}
 | discharge1_avg    = {{convert|2.1|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}} at [Pernik](/source/Pernik); {{convert|76.2|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}} at Marino pole 
 | basin_size_km2 = 17330
 | mapframe-frame-height = 300
 | mapframe-zoom = 7
}}
The '''Struma''' or '''Strymonas''' ({{langx|bg|Струма|Struma}}, {{IPA|bg|ˈstrumɐ|pron}}; {{langx|el|Στρυμόνας|Strymónas}}, {{IPA|el|striˈmonas|pron}}) is a river in [Bulgaria](/source/Bulgaria) and [Greece](/source/Greece). Its [ancient](/source/Ancient_Greek) name was '''Strymon''' ({{langx|el|Στρυμών|Strymṓn|link=no}}, {{IPA|el|stryˈmɔːn|pron}}). Its drainage area is {{convert|17330|km2|abbr=on}}, of which {{convert|8670|km2|abbr=on}} in [Bulgaria](/source/Bulgaria), {{convert|6295|km2|abbr=on}} in [Greece](/source/Greece) and the remaining {{convert|2365|km2|abbr=on}} in [North Macedonia](/source/North_Macedonia)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ypeka.gr/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=T4DDG1hqQMY%3D&tabid=252&language=el-GR |title=Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215192049/http://www.ypeka.gr/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=T4DDG1hqQMY%3D&tabid=252&language=el-GR|archive-date=15 February 2020|language=el|publisher=Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change|page=86}}</ref> and [Serbia](/source/Serbia).<ref name=UNECE>{{cite book | url=https://unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/water/publications/pub76.htm | title=Our Waters: Joining Hands Across Borders: First Assessment of Transboundary Rivers, Lakes and Groundwaters | publisher=[United Nations Economic Commission for Europe](/source/United_Nations_Economic_Commission_for_Europe) | year=2007 | chapter=Drainage basin of the Mediterranean Sea | pages=171 |quote= The share of Serbia and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in the total [Struma] basin area is very small.}}</ref> It takes its source from the [Vitosha Mountain](/source/Vitosha) in [Bulgaria](/source/Bulgaria), runs first westward, then southward, forming a number of gorges, enters [Greece](/source/Greece) near the village of [Promachonas](/source/Promachonas) in eastern [Macedonia](/source/Macedonia_(Greece)). In Greece it is the main waterway feeding and exiting from [Lake Kerkini](/source/Lake_Kerkini), a significant centre for migratory wildfowl. Also in Greece, the river entirely flows in the [Serres regional unit](/source/Serres_(regional_unit)) into the [Strymonian Gulf](/source/Strymonian_Gulf) in [Aegean Sea](/source/Aegean_Sea), near [Amphipolis](/source/Amphipolis). The river's length is {{convert|415|km|abbr=off}} (of which {{convert|290|km}} in Bulgaria, making it the country's fifth-longest and one of the [longest rivers](/source/List_of_rivers_of_Europe) that run solely in the interior of the [Balkans](/source/Balkans).

Parts of the river valley belong to a Bulgarian [coal](/source/coal)-producing area, more significant in the past than nowadays; the southern part of the Bulgarian section is an important [wine region](/source/Bulgarian_wine). The Greek portion is a valley which is dominant in agriculture, being Greece's fourth-biggest valley. The tributaries include the [Konska River](/source/Konska_River), the [Dragovishtitsa](/source/Dragovi%C5%A1tica), the [Rilska River](/source/Rilska_River), the [Blagoevgradska Bistritsa](/source/Blagoevgradska_Bistritsa), the [Sandanska Bistritsa](/source/Sandanska_Bistritsa), the [Strumitsa](/source/Strumica_(river)), the [Pirinska Bistritsa](/source/Pirinska_Bistritsa) and the [Angitis](/source/Angitis).

==Etymology==
The river's name comes from Thracian {{Lang|txh|Strymón}}, derived from [Proto-Indo-European](/source/Proto-Indo-European) ''*''{{Lang|mis|srew-}}<!-- Proto-Indo European --> 'stream',<ref>Radislav Katičic', ''Ancient Languages of the Balkans, Part One''. Mouton, Paris 1976, p. 144.</ref> akin to English ''stream'', Old Irish {{Lang|sga|sruaimm}} 'river', Polish {{Lang|pl|strumień}} 'stream', Lithuanian ''straumuo'' 'fast stream', Bulgarian {{Lang|bg|струя}} ({{Transliteration|bg|struia}}) 'water flow', Greek {{Script|Greek|ῥεῦμα}} ({{Transliteration|grc|rheũma}}) 'stream', Albanian {{Lang|sq|rrymë}} 'water flow', {{Lang|sq|shi}} 'rain'.

The name ''Strymón'' was a [hydronym](/source/hydronym) in ancient [Greek mythology](/source/Greek_mythology), referring to a mythical Thracian king that was drowned in the river.<ref>Pierre Grimal, [https://books.google.com/books?id=UtYQPW95-FsC&dq= ''Classical mythology'']. Wiley-Blackwell, 1990. {{ISBN|978-0-631-20102-1}}.</ref> Strymón was also used as a personal name in various regions of [Ancient Greece](/source/Ancient_Greece) during the 3rd century BC.<ref>Antoninus Liberalis, Celoria Francis, [https://books.google.com/books?id=9_Eolzuv0eQC&dq=s ''The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis. A translation with commentary'']. Routledge, 1992. {{ISBN|978-0-415-06896-3}}.</ref>

In [Macedonian](/source/Macedonian_language) it is called Струма {{IPA|bg|ˈstrumɐ|}}; while in {{langx|tr|Karasu}} {{IPA|[kaɾaˈsu]}}, 'black water').

==History==
thumb|right|upright=1|View near the Greek coast
[[File:Persian fort at Eion seen from Amphipolis.jpg|thumb|upright=1|The ancient Persian fort at [Eion](/source/Eion) (left) and the mouth of the [Strymon River](/source/Strymon_River) (right), seen from Ennea Hodoi ([Amphipolis](/source/Amphipolis))]]
In 437 BC, the [ancient Greek](/source/Ancient_Greece) city of [Amphipolis](/source/Amphipolis) was founded near the river's entrance to the Aegean, at the site previously known as {{Lang|grc-latn|Ennea Hodoi}} ('Nine roads'). When [Xerxes I](/source/Xerxes_I) of [Persia](/source/Persia) crossed the river during his invasion in 480 BC he buried alive nine young boys and nine maidens as a sacrifice to the river god.<ref>[Herodotus](/source/Herodotus) 7,114 [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hdt.+7.114.1]. The history may be Greek slander, though, as human sacrifice is not known as an Iranian cultic practice.</ref> The forces of [Alexander I of Macedon](/source/Alexander_I_of_Macedon) defeated the remnants of Xerxes' army near Ennea Hodoi in 479 BC. In 424 BC the Spartan general [Brasidas](/source/Brasidas) after crossing the entire Greek peninsula sieged and conquered Amphipolis. According to the ancient sources, the river was navigable from its mouth up to the ancient (and today dried) [Cercinitis lake](/source/Cercinitis_lake), which also favored the navigation; and thus was formed in antiquity an important waterway that served the communication between the coasts of [Strymonian Gulf](/source/Strymonian_Gulf) and the Thracian hinterland and almost to the city of [Serres](/source/Serres).<ref>Dimitrios C. Samsaris, ''Historical Geography of Eastern Macedonia during the Antiquity'' (= ''Makedonikí bibliothíki'', 49). Society of Macedonian Studies, Thessaloniki 1976, p. 16 ff. {{ISBN|960-7265-16-5}} (in Greek; [http://www.ems.gr/analytikos-katalogos-ekdoseon/makedoniki-vivliothiki/049-samsaris.html online text] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424003106/http://www.ems.gr/analytikos-katalogos-ekdoseon/makedoniki-vivliothiki/049-samsaris.html |date=2017-04-24 }}).<br />Dimitrios C. Samsaris,  ''A History of Serres (in the Ancient and Roman Times)''. Thessaloniki 1999, pp. 55–60 (in Greek; [http://www.serres.gr/index.php/istoria/istoria-serron-samsaris website of the municipality of Serres] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624010448/https://www.serres.gr/index.php/istoria/istoria-serron-samsaris |date=2018-06-24 }}).</ref>

thumb|The basin of the river in Bulgaria

The decisive [Battle of Kleidion](/source/Battle_of_Belasitsa) was fought close the river in 1014 between the [Bulgarians](/source/Bulgarians) under Emperor [Samuel](/source/Samuel_of_Bulgaria) and the [Byzantines](/source/Byzantine_Empire) under Emperor [Basil II](/source/Basil_II) and determined the fall of the [First Bulgarian Empire](/source/First_Bulgarian_Empire) four years later. In 1913, the [Greek Army](/source/Greek_Army) was nearly surrounded in the [Kresna Gorge](/source/Kresna_Gorge) of the Struma by the [Bulgarian Army](/source/Bulgarian_Army) during the [Second Balkan War](/source/Second_Balkan_War), and the Greeks were forced to ask for armistice.

The river valley was part of the [Macedonian front](/source/Macedonian_front_(World_War_I)) in [World War I](/source/World_War_I). The ship {{MV|Struma||2}}, which took Jewish refugees out of [Romania](/source/Romania) in [World War II](/source/World_War_II) and was [torpedoed and sunk](/source/Struma_disaster) in the [Black Sea](/source/Black_Sea), causing nearly 800 deaths, was named after the river.

== Protected areas and ecology ==
The river's mouth and [Lake Kerkini](/source/Lake_Kerkini), a lake that the river is feeding and exiting, are both [national park](/source/national_park)s and part of the [Natura 2000](/source/Natura_2000) network.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Natura 2000 Viewer |url=https://natura2000.eea.europa.eu/ |access-date=2024-08-05 |website=natura2000.eea.europa.eu}}</ref> More than 300 bird species have been observed at these locations and some of them are considered [endangered](/source/Endangered_species) or [vulnerable](/source/Vulnerable_species), like the [saker falcon](/source/saker_falcon), the [eastern imperial eagle](/source/eastern_imperial_eagle) and the [greater spotted eagle](/source/greater_spotted_eagle).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kerkini Lake {{!}} Fauna |url=https://kerkini.gr/panida/?lang=en |access-date=2024-08-05 |language=en-US}}</ref> The [Greek lamprey](/source/Greek_lamprey), which is listed as a [critically endangered](/source/Critically_Endangered) species on the [IUCN Red List](/source/IUCN_Red_List) and is considered the rarest species of [lamprey](/source/lamprey) in the world, is only found at the Struma [basin](/source/Drainage_basin) and the basin of the much smaller [Louros](/source/Louros_(river)) river.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Greek Brook Lamprey (Caspiomyzon hellenicus) |url=https://uk.inaturalist.org/taxa/96838-Caspiomyzon-hellenicus |access-date=2024-08-05 |website=iNaturalist United Kingdom |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:StrumaatKresnaGorge.jpg|Struma at [Kresna Gorge](/source/Kresna_Gorge)
Image:Struma Winter.jpg|Struma near the city of [Blagoevgrad](/source/Blagoevgrad) in winter
File:Εκβολές Στρυμόνα.jpg|Strymon estuary
File:Loewe von Amphipolis (2018).jpg|[Lion of Amphipolis](/source/Lion_of_Amphipolis); [Via Egnatia](/source/Via_Egnatia), west side of Strymonas
File:Greek Army Strymon WWI.jpg|Greek soldiers at Strymon during WWI
Struma river mouth.jpg|Struma river mouth
Strymonriver.jpg|Struma river from the bridge next to the [Lion of Amphipolis](/source/Lion_of_Amphipolis) facing the beach of [Ofryni Beach](/source/Ofryni_Beach) (Tuzla)
</gallery>

==Honour==
*[Struma Glacier](/source/Struma_Glacier) on [Livingston Island](/source/Livingston_Island) in the [South Shetland Islands](/source/South_Shetland_Islands), [Antarctica](/source/Antarctica) is named after Struma River.

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Struma River}}
* [https://www.livius.org/so-st/strymon/strymon.html Livius.org: Strymon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014155445/http://www.livius.org/so-st/strymon/strymon.html |date=2012-10-14 }}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Struma basin
Category:Rivers of Bulgaria
Category:Rivers of Greece
Category:International rivers of Europe
Category:Rivers of Blagoevgrad Province
Category:Rivers of Kyustendil Province
Category:Rivers of Pernik Province
Category:Rivers  of Sofia City Province
Category:Landforms of Serres (regional unit)
Category:Geography of Macedonia (region)
Category:Rivers of Central Macedonia

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Struma (river)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struma_(river)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struma_(river)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.