Zlatiya is a small geographic region in Northern

Northern Bulgaria

Northern Bulgaria is the northern half of the territory of Bulgaria, located to the north of the main ridge of the Balkan Mountains which conventionally separates the country into a northern and a southern part...

 Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

. Zlatiya is a low asymmetrical plateau

Plateau

In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...

 in the northwestern part of the country, a subregion of the Danubian Plain

Danubian Plain (Bulgaria)

The Danubian Plain constitutes the northern part of Bulgaria, situated north of the Balkan Mountains and south of the Danube. Its western border is the Timok River and to the east it borders the Black Sea. The plain has an area of . It is about long and wide.The relief of the Danubian Plain is...

. It lies between three rivers: the Tsibritsa

Tsibritsa

The Tsibritsa is a river in the western Danubian Plain of northern Bulgaria and a right tributary of the Danube. The river originates in the Shiroka Planina area of the Fore-Balkan Mountains near the Serbian border and flows in a northeast direction diagonally through Montana Province...

 to the west, the Ogosta

Ogosta

The Ogosta , is a river in Northern Bulgaria, a right tributary of the Danube. It takes it source from Vrazha Glava Peak on the border with Serbia. The towns of Chiprovtsi, Montana and Miziya are situated on the river's banks....

 to the east and the Danube

Danube

The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

 to the north. The plateau's elevation

Elevation

The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....

 is around 100-150 metres above mean sea level

Above mean sea level

The term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...

, the highest point reaching 176 m near the Danube. The soil

Soil

Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...

 is a fertile chernozem

Chernozem

Chernozem , also known as "black land" or "black earth", is a black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus 7% to 15%, and high percentages of phosphoric acids, phosphorus and ammonia...

; no rivers cross the plateau, but by heavy rainfall the ravines are drained away to the east by the Ogosta river and ultimately into the Danube. Zlatiya has been an Important Bird Area

Important Bird Area

An Important Bird Area is an area recognized as being globally important habitat for the conservation of bird populations. Currently there are about 10,000 IBAs worldwide. The program was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife International...

 since 2005 (parts of it since 1997)http://bspb.org/ovm.php?id=9&menu_id=65 and has been included in the EU's Natura 2000

Natura 2000

Natura 2000 is an ecological network of protected areas in the territory of the European Union.-Origins:In May 1992, the governments of the European Communities adopted legislation designed to protect the most seriously threatened habitats and species across Europe. This legislation is called the...

 ecological network. The protected area covers 434.987 square kilometres.http://www.stroitelstvo.info/show.php?storyid=471384

Although most of the region is composed of arable land

Arable land

In geography and agriculture, arable land is land that can be used for growing crops. It includes all land under temporary crops , temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow...

, there are still some extant small forests. The main local product has traditionally been grain

GRAIN

GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...

, leading to Zlatiya's labeling as "Bulgaria's northwestern granary", a comparison to Dobruja

Dobruja

Dobruja is a historical region shared by Bulgaria and Romania, located between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea, including the Danube Delta, Romanian coast and the northernmost part of the Bulgarian coast...

.

The population mainly consists of Bulgarians

Bulgarians

The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...

, although there is a sizable Roma minority

Roma in Bulgaria

The Roma in Bulgaria are the country's second largest minority and third largest ethnic group . According to the 2001 census, there were 370,908 Roma in Bulgaria, equivalent to 4.7% of the country's total population, making Bulgaria the European country with the highest percentage of Roma.Experts'...

. A local centre is the town of Valchedram

Valchedram

Valchedram is a town in northwestern Bulgaria, part of Montana Province. It is the administrative centre of Valchedram Municipality, which lies in the northeastern part of Montana Province. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 3,817 inhabitants....

, Montana Province

Montana Province

Montana Province is a province in northwestern Bulgaria, bordering Serbia in the southwest and Romania in the north. It spreads its area between the Danube river and Balkan mountain. As of February 2011, the province has a population of 148,098 inhabitants, on territory of 3,635.5 km²...

. The region's name roughly means "gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

en land".