Rila National Park, known as Национален парк „Рила“ in Bulgarian, is the largest national park in Bulgaria. It covers an area of 810.46 square kilometers (312.92 square miles; 200,270 acres) in the Rila mountain range, located in the south-west of the country.

History

Rila National Park was created on February 24, 1992, to protect important ecosystems in Bulgaria. The park’s elevation ranges from 800 meters (2,600 feet) near Blagoevgrad to 2,925 meters (9,596 feet) at Musala Peak, the highest mountain in the Balkan Peninsula. It includes 120 glacial lakes, such as the famous Seven Rila Lakes. Many rivers begin in the park, including the Maritsa River, which carries the most water in the Balkans, and the Iskar River, the longest river entirely within Bulgaria.

The park covers parts of four out of the country’s 28 provinces: Sofia, Kyustendil, Blagoevgrad, and Pazardzhik. It includes four nature reserves: Parangalitsa, Central Rila Reserve, Ibar, and Skakavitsa.

Rila National Park is one of the largest and most valuable protected areas in Europe. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies the park as Category II. Two of the four nature reserves are listed in the UN’s Representative Protected Areas, and four are part of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves under the Man and Biosphere Programme.

The park is located in the Rodope montane mixed forests ecoregion of the Palearctic temperate broadleaf and mixed forest region. Forests cover 534.81 square kilometers (206.49 square miles; 132,150 acres), or 66% of the park’s total area. There are about 1,400 species of vascular plants, 282 species of mosses, and 130 species of freshwater algae. The park is home to 48 species of mammals, 99 species of birds, 20 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 5 species of fish. It also has 2,934 species of invertebrates, 282 of which are found only in this area.