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Central Bulgaria is traversed from east to west by ranges of the Balkan Mts. (Stara Planina, or "Old Mountains" in Bulgarian). A fertile plateau runs north of the Balkans to the Danube River, which forms most of the northern border. In the southwest is the Rhodope range, which includes Bulgaria's highest point, Musala Mt. (9,592 ft/2,923 m). The Thracian plain lies south of the Balkans and east of the Rhodope. The Danube, the Iskur, the Maritsa, and the Struma are the principal rivers.
The population consists chiefly of Bulgars. There is a substantial minority of Turks, and smaller groups of Gypsies and Macedonians, although Bulgaria, with its historic claim to Macedonia, refuses to recognize Macedonians as distinct from Bulgars. Bulgarian is the predominant language. Most of the population belongs to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church; in 1953 the Bulgarian patriarchate, which had been disbanded in 1946, was reestablished. There is also a substantial Muslim minority. Institutions of higher education include the universities of Sofia, Plovdiv, Veliko Turnovo, and Varna.
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