STRUMA RIVER

also spelled Strouma, Greek Potams Strimn, ancient Strymon river in western Bulgaria and northeastern Greece, rising in the Vitosha Massif of the Rhodope Mountains in Bulgaria, southwest of Sofia. It follows a course of 258 miles (415 km) south-southeast via Pernik to the Aegean Sea, which it enters 30 miles (50 km) west-southwest of Kavla. The area of its drainage basin is 4,208 square miles (10,898 square km). The Struma River valley is a direct routeway from Sofia to the Aegean. Major tributaries are the Dzherman, the Rilska, the Angtis, and the Strumeshnitsa (Strumica in Macedonia) rivers. The Struma River valley is a major source of brown coal for Bulgariacoal is obtained at Pernik, Bobov Dol, and Brezhani. The river's lower course, south of the Rupel Pass in Greece, was canalized in 1930. Lake Akhins was drained and Lake Kerknis was filled in for flood control. The river's lower course is now a wide agricultural valley.