Mariya Grozeva – SOME TENDENCES OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN THE AGE OF GLOBALIZATION

The article addresses some of the global trends in tourism – such as its connections with regionalization, international air transport, the development of computer and communication technologies, the devotion to the trademarks etc. Tourism is one of the main contributions of globalization. The relationship between tourism and globalization is bilateral. On the one hand it has a powerful impact on its distribution and on the other hand it is a result of globalizing processes. Having in mind the close connections of international tourism to the development of economy, politics, history, culture, and international relations, it is the basis for mutual cooperation. Today we can certainly say that countries and regions sell not only its tourism product in the global market, but simultaneously present the world their national values. Special attention is paid to the development of air transport, because 45% of tourists in the world arrive using it.

Keywords: globalization, tourist development, regionalization, international tourism, international economy

Vanya Vassileva – MAIN TRENDS IN SCIENCE OF TOURISM

Tourism is a socio-economic phenomenon. It is increace and be suc- cessful in the modern post-industrial society and economy of services. Science of tourism (tourismology) appears, domineers and develops at the same time. It is a comperatively young science. Many aspects about it nature, name, structure, relationships and others are still debating. The purpose of this article is to systematize the main directions in the science of tourism (tourismology). It is also necessary to find a place of this science in the system of scientific knowledge and to refer it links with other sciences to achieve this purpose. It is also necessary to differentiate the concep- tion of this relatively new science.

Keywords: tourism, science of tourism, tourismology, geography of tourism, economy of tourism

Viliyan Krastev – MOUNTAIN RESORTS: TOURIST EVOLUTION IN THE TERRITORIAL ORGANIZATION

The article is a retrospective review about the evolution of tourism development of mountain resorts in terms of their territorial organization. Following the example of countries with established positions in winter tourism (France, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, etc.) in this article are illustrated key dependencies about the process of utilization of mountain resources towards the prevailing market demand. They have a direct impact on the organizational structure of the mountain resorts from the early twentieth century until today. Particularities in territorial organization differentiate four generations of mountain resorts that mark the different stages of the “takeover” of the mountains by tourism. Each of these generations characterizes the types of the resorts with specific spatial and functional appearance (compared to the range of offered tourist services) profile. Knowing and understanding this evolution is essential to avoid a number of mistakes along with an adequate development of policies and strategies in the process of planning of future resort planning or subse- quent valorization of existing mountain resorts.

Keywords: mountain resort, mountain resources, skiing, territorial organization, Alps

Marian Varbanov – PARAMETERIZATION OF WATER QUALITY OF BULGARIAN RIVERS
OF BLACK SEA REGION THROUGH OXYGEN BALANCE INDEX

In recent decades to assess the quality of water bodies increasingly apply complex assessments of pollution of surface waters. The results are usually presented as a ball or a rank corresponding to the values of the selected parameter. In this paper an attempt is made to implement and test in Bulgarian conditions a comprehensive index to assess the status of surface water by their oxygen balance. This index has been approved in many EU countries. The evaluation was made for eight rivers of the drainage area to direct runoff into the Black Sea for the period 1990-2015. According to the results the analyzed rivers are parameterized into five categories.

Keywords: water quality, oxygen balance of river waters, Black sea rivers, index estimates

Kristina Gartsiyanova – NITRATE POLLUTION OF THE RIVER WATER IN THE BLACK SEA DRAINAGE AREA

Intensive economic activity on the Bulgarian coast is a reason for serious changes for the worse in the river water quality and in particular their nitrate conditions. For that matter, pollution of river water by nitrates from different sources is a risk to human health. According to the actuality of this problem the article analyzes the quality status of surface river waters of the Bulgarian Black Sea area in terms of their nitrate pollution. The trends in the qualitative characteristics of the river water of nitrate, nitrite and ammonium, both in spatial and temporal aspect is made by applying a comprehensive index of water quality – WQI. The origin of pollutants and sources of nitrate pollution – point and diffuse are determined.

Keywords: nitrate pollution, river waters, Black Sea drainage area

Georgi Zhelezov – LANDSCAPE AND HYDROCHEMICAL SPECIFICS OF CHOKLYOVO WETLAND SYSTEM IN KONIAVSKA MOUNTAIN

The present research covers two main aspects of Choklyovo wetland system in Koniavska Mountain. The first is connected with determination of the landscape characteristics and productivity of the landscapes. There are higher values of indicator phytoproductivity in comparison of other investigated systems of wetlands. The second aspect includes the investigation of hydrochemical specifics in three parts of the wetland system. Chemical analysis of water shows a higher oxygen concentration and lower values of phosphates, phosphorous, nitrates and ammonia in the southern part of the wetland.

Keywords: landscapes, hydrochemical specifics, wetland

Nikola Todorov, Angel Velchev – География на информацията и географски ландшафт на информацията

This article deals with the problems of karst morphology and landscape structure in Sofia basin and its adjacent territories. It emphasizes the role of the main natural factors in the evolution of karst forms and landscape geosystems in the study area. By means of morphological analysis it is proved that in some parts of the basin and its surrounding mountains the rock composition (represented by carbonate rocks) and the tectonic characteristics are crucial for the formation of the physical-geographical features. Important factors are pointed out, contributing to the appearance of specific karst forms, and particularly, of buried, covered and naked karst. An idea is suggested that transitional types of karst have been shaped, called semi-covered and semi-naked. In conclusion, the stress is laid on the importance of karst forms for the economic development in this region.

Keywords: karst, factors for karstification, karst forms, types of landscapes

Alexander Gikov, Petar Dimitrov, Miglena Zhiyanski – LAND COVER DYNAMICS ON THE NORTHERN SLOPE OF THE TROYAN PASSAGE DURING 30 YEARS PERIOD

In this study the changes in land cover over a 30-year period are examined for a 7.5 sq. km test site situated in the area of Troyan Pass. The Troyan Pass (1525 m a.s.l) called also Beklemeto, is the highest pass in Stara planina (Balkan Mountain) crossed by road. For studying the land cover changes, aerial photographs from 1982 and 1989, and a satellite image from 2012 are used. The panchromatic aerial photographs are orthorectified and characterized with 50 cm spatial resolution. The satellite image is acquired by WorldView-2 satellite and includes one panchromatic and eight spectral bands. A pan-sharpened image with four bands and 50 cm spatial resolution is prepared using the original WorldView-2 bands. Because of the high spatial resolution and detail of the images it is possible to use the forth level of the CORINE classification which is more detailed than the third level – typically used at national scale. Using visual interpretation, three maps are prepared representing the land cover in 1982, 1989 and 2012. The results show that during the considered 30 years period the area of the Broadleaved forests (class 3111) nearly doubled in the region. The increase was mostly due to the reduction of Natural young stands (class 3242) which eventually completely disappeared from the test site. This trend is a result of the intensive logging activities which had been taking place before the 1980’s. Naturally regenerated broadleaved forests occupied the cleared areas at the beginning of the studied period and by the end of the period they have become mature forests. The study demonstrates that recovery of the natural forest vegetation after the prolonged period of intense logging in the second half of XX-th century is the dominating process shaping the land cover in the region for the past 30 years.

Keywords: Remote sensing, Land cover dynamics

Tihomir Aleksiev – EDUCATIONAL GEOSPTAIL WEB PLATFORMS AND RESOURCES FOR GEOGRAPHY AND ECONOMICS TEACHING

Geography and the other Earth science has changed a lot since geospatial technologies became more available. Research, processing and analysis of geographical data is based more and more on remote sensing of Earth and related technologies. Contemporary cartographic products are made and analyze using Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Many convenient sources of spatial information are available. At the same time in Bulgarian school education, Geography and Economy is being studied mainly using traditional methods, that have been developed back in the Industrial age and have slightly changed. “Paper” geography is being taught in a digital world. This points the necessity of integration of spatial technologies in geography school education. In the World Wide Web vast number of educational platforms, recourses and technologies that are free and can be used for education are available. This study offers analysis of some educational platforms oriented towards integration of geospatial technologies in school education and the possibilities to practice them.

Keywords: Geospatial technologies, GIS, remote sensing, education, geography

Sergey Shevchuk – SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL OF THE INSTITUTE OF UKRAINE GEOGRAPHY AND CARTOGRAPHY

The article reveals peculiarities of the first in Ukraine Geographic institutions of academic type – Ukrainian Scientific Research Institute of Geography and Cartography (1927–1934). The main directions of his scientific work, as well as the main achievements in the field of Ukrainian national school of geography. The article investigates the leading directions of scientific work of the Institute. The main attention is paid to scientific achievement UNIIGK school in the context of the main directions of its activity: scientific-search work in the field of physical geography and human geography, cartography work and publishing activities. When covering fea- tures of the organization of work UNIIGK expedition, preparation of highly qualified specialists, organization of scientific-popular work and peculiarities of cooperation with domestic and foreign scientific institutions. This study was performed as part of the author’s work on the complex topic of “Scientific schools in the Ukrainian geography.”

Keywords: history of Ukrainian geography, Ukrainian Scientific-Research Institute of Geography and Cartography (UNIIGK), a scientific school, academician Stepan Rudnicki

Valentin Mihaylov – IRRESPONSIBLE ABUSES OF THE CLASSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE

This paper pays attention to the series of publications of Witold Wilczyński, a geographer from the Krakow Pedagogical University, in which he presents some pseudoscientific statements about the classical geography of Europe. The first statement says that during the period of classical geography and according to the classical geographers, “Europe was not a „continent”, but a “homogeneous region, populated by Western (Latin) civilization”. The author based these ideological abuses only on his own imagination, without referring to any historical sources (author, title, year of publication, pages, etc.), as well as without showing a map from the period of classical geography which could confirm his imagination. The author of the critical paper shows why this thesis does not have a scientific value, referring to classical maps about ancient Europe and recalling the origin of Europe which occurred on the map in the region of Trace which region was not and is not a part of Latin civilization. What concerns all the classical and contemporary scientific maps, they all show that Europe is a western part of Eurasia that covers lands and cultures of Orthodox, Latin, and other civilizations. The second statement is that Sarmatia is a “historical region located on the east from Poland’”. Wilczyński (2014) has repeated this abuse many times. According to his suggestions, the Eastern Slavs (Byelorussians, Ukrainians and Russians) are not Europeans, but they are „ancestors” of old Sarmatia and Sarmatians. On the contrary, according to the ancient cartographers and historians, Sarmatia always included lands from contemporary Poland and its neighbouring East European countries. The eastern border of Poland in various periods was not been a boundary which divided Europe from Sarmatia. The largest part of Sarmatia (Sarmatia Europeana) was regarded as a part of Europe.Apart from series of unacceptable falsifications of classical geography of Europe, the author stresses the abuses of the field of political history and geography of the XXth century presented in the works of Witold Wilczyński.

Mariana Nikolova – THE NEW BOOK OF ACADEMICIAN TODOR NIKOLOV “OUTLINES OF A LIFES PATH”

The new book of Academician Todor Nikolov “Outlines of a Life’s Path” was published from “Prof. Marin Drinov” Publishing House of Bulgarian Academy of Science in the beginning of 2016. The book is autobiographical, but the reader gradually, turns out to be involved not only in the story of a worthy life, but also in the history of the development and flourishing of geology, stratigraphy and paleontology in Bulgaria.