Talk:Maritsa

Note to the administrators: this entry should be Axios / Vardar
Geographical features that cross two or more countries should have their entry indicated in the officially recognised forms of all those countries. Hence, we should have - arranged in alphabetical order: Evros / Maritsa. Axios / Vardar.

This rule should not apply in the Danube, etc, since all countries use the same root term and Danube is the acknowledged form in English. Thank you and merci Politis 19:59, 24 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Sorry, I haven't heard of this rule and have never seen it applied. This isn't the place to make up and suggest policies, you may want to propose it at the Village pump (policy), if you believe it is necessary. Besides, the river also runs through Turkey (Evros / Maritsa / Meriç? Isn't it a bit too much? Where have you seen such article naming?) 321 km of the river's total length of 480 km are located solely in Bulgaria, I believe this is enough of an argument. [[Image:Flag of Bulgaria.svg|20px]] → Тодор Божинов / Todor Bozhinov → 18:31, 10 March 2006 (UTC)


 * Thaks for the link. I see your point, however, length is not the issue (two thirds in Bulgaria), some geographical features change names when they cross borders, that should be reflected in the title. It can feel uncomfortable to see a single name dominating. I certainly dont want to see people starting new articles, one for Evros and another for Meriç, each dealing with their own strech of water. Otherwise, I am not obssessed by the issue Politis 18:44, 10 March 2006 (UTC)


 * Yes, of course names change across borders, and this is noted in the article itself, the name Evros is even mentioned as one of the possible variants in English, and not only as a regional name. There can't be new articles for every country's portion, as Meriç and Evros currently redirect here. But using several/all of a geographic object's regional names in the article name is not the current policy, usually the one that dominates is preferred for the purpose. I have seen only rare cases in Wikipedia where two namings are used in the article name, the one I certainly recall are towns in Trentino-South Tyrol (such as Bozen-Bolzano, that, I believe, are officially named so.
 * The Britannica article is at Maritsa River and the search term gets 59,500 Google hits in English only (an additional 46,700 for Marica River and 110,000 for Maritza River, other transliterations of same term), as opposed to Evros River's 41,400). This is if you trust Google. [[Image:Flag of Bulgaria.svg|20px]] → Тодор Божинов / Todor Bozhinov → 19:40, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

Greece is the cradle of Western Civilization and it only seems appropriate that in a Western civilopedia like Wiki that it should be named for the *Greek* spelling of the name. Neither Bulgaria nor Turkey have the historical backing to lay claim to the name of the article or the river. 25march (talk) 19:28, 21 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Ooookay. In fact I was just going to suggest that we use Thracian name for the river, since no one else, including Greeks, has the historical backing to lay claim to the name of the article or the river as much as them. Vidimian (talk) 11:48, 17 November 2010 (UTC)

Illegal Immigration
Just added an important section. Hope you all like it! Ssredg (talk) 11:49, 8 July 2012 (UTC)
 * That source is over four years old now; I'd like to know if and when the planned fence it mentions was completed. Furthermore, mention should be made of the subsequent short (but dangerous) sea journeys to the Aegean islands (which have been in the news lately). 71.183.132.198 (talk) 01:05, 6 September 2015 (UTC)

Suggestions for improvement
It would be nice if someone could write about the various floods in the Bulgarian stretch of the river. Should the last paragraph be titled March 2006? Preslav 14:32, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

Unclear
The article states, "the longest river that runs solely in the interior of the Balkans". Does it mean that of all the rivers that run within the Balkans, this one is the longest? If so, it may need some rephrasing. Politis 17:08, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Etymology
There is no link between the names Europa and Hebros as the article proposes. In Greek it is written Έβρος, with a β, not an ύ as in Europa (Εὐρώπη). The name Europa contains the elements εὐρύς (eurus), "wide, broad" and ὤψ/ὠπ-/ὀπτ- (ōps/ōp-/opt-) "eye, face, countenance . I really don't know about the etymology of Hebros, but Europe surely still has the same meaning in modern Greek, "wide face". Also i 've just seen this suggestion about Thrace refered to as Europa in this BBC article reference and nowhere else. If we suppose that the ancient myth of Europa has a hint of history inside, and the region of Thrace had nothing to do with the myth, then what is the historical evidence about a link between them, if there is one?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fallenman369 (talk • contribs) 16:59, 15 January 2017 (UTC)

Seeing as the statement that Thrace was what was originally meant by Europe has been in question for years and no good sources have been provided since then I going to remove this questionable content. Feel free to make a case for reversion here if anyone can find sources that respond to the critiques listed here and in the article. Skoulikomirmigotripa (talk) 01:36, 17 October 2021 (UTC)

The text, "The name Maritsa may derive from a mountain near the mouth of the river known in antiquity as Μηρισός or Μήριζος, Latinized as Merit(h)us." at the end of the etymology section appears to be taken word for word from an old source. I'm having trouble verifying this statement, finding the idea posited anywhere else except in this single source, and finding any reference to a mountain by either of these names anywhere except in this single source. Can anyone verify any part of this statement with a second source or at least find some reference to the existence of this mountain? I'm starting to think the claim might be a fishy attempt to make the name appear more ancient than it is or have a different origin than it does. Wiktionary lists its Etymology as a Slavic diminutive of the name Maria. Skoulikomirmigotripa (talk) 02:10, 17 October 2021 (UTC)