Nestos (river)

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Nestos (Νέστος), Mesta (Места)
Location
Countries	Bulgaria and Greece
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Rila Mountains, Bulgaria
• coordinates	42°07′10″N 23°35′10″E / 42.11944°N 23.58611°E / 42.11944; 23.58611
• elevation	2,240 m (7,350 ft)
Mouth
• location	Aegean Sea opposite Thasos, Greece
• coordinates	40°50′51″N 24°48′15″E / 40.84750°N 24.80417°E / 40.84750; 24.80417
Length	230 km (140 mi)
Basin size	5,184 km2 (2,002 sq mi)
Discharge
• location	Hadzhidimovo, Bulgaria
• average	29.85 m3/s (1,054 cu ft/s)

The Nestos (Greek: Νέστος [ˈnestos]), Mesta (Bulgarian: Места [ˈmɛstɐ]) is a river in Bulgaria and Greece. It rises in the Rila Mountains and flows into the Aegean Sea near the island of Thasos. It plunges down towering canyons toward the Aegean Sea through mostly metamorphic formations. At the end, the main stream spreads over the coastal plain of Chrysoupolis and expands as a deltaic system with freshwater lakes and ponds forming the Nestos delta. The length of the river is 230 km (140 mi), of which 126 km (78 mi) flow through Bulgaria^[1] and the rest in Greece. Its drainage area is 5,184 km² (2,002 sq mi), of which 66% is in Bulgaria.^[2] It forms some gorges in Rila and Pirin. The longest gorge between Pirin to the west and the Rhodope Mountains to the east is the 25-km long Momina Klisura in Bulgaria.

The Mesta's longest tributary is the Dospat (or Despatis). The banks of the river are covered mainly by deciduous trees that extend into halfway between Bulgaria and Greece where it forms the modern boundary of Greek Macedonia and Thrace, as well as the boundary between the Kavala and the Xanthi regional units, having first crossed the Drama regional unit. The river later forms a delta to the north where swamplands, wetlands and a lagoon once existed except in the east.