Radika
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| Radika (Радика) | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Vraca mountain, Kosovo, Serbia |
| Mouth | Crni Drim river, south of Debar, Macedonia |
| Basin countries | Serbia, Macedonia |
| Length | 70 km |
| Basin area | 665 km² |
The Radika (Macedonian and Serbian Cyrillic : Радика, Albanian: Radika,) is a river in southern Serbia (Kosovo) and eastern Macedonia, a 70 km-long right tributary to the Black Drin river.
Radika proper is 52 km long, but measured from the most distant source in its watershed, that of the Crni Kamen river, it is 70 km long.
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[edit] Origin
The Crni Kamen (Cyrillic: Црни Камен; black stone) springs out from the northern slopes of the Vraca mountain, the southern extension of the Šar mountain, under the Golema Vraca peak (2,582 m). Crni Kamen originally flows westward, through the Gora region, bends around the Vraca and sharply turns to the south and empties into the Serbian-Macedonian border river Ćafa Kadis (Serbian Cyrillic: Ћафа Кадис; Macedonian Цафа Кадис; Albanian: Çafa e Kadisë).
Ćafa Kadis originates from the southern slopes of the Vraca mountain and northern slopes of the Mangulova Kula mountain, another Šar mountain's extension. It flows westwards, on the northern section of the mountain of Ničipurska planina (Brodec peak, still part of the Šar massif) and for several kilometers forms the Serbian-Macedonian border. After it receives the Crni Kamen from the right and another stream coming from Serbia, Ćafa Kadis turns south into the Macedonian proper again and from this point it is known as the Radika.
[edit] Upper Radika
Upper Radika is just 8 km long and due to the human managing of its course, it belongs to the Aegean Sea drainage basin, unlike the latter course of the Lower Radika which belongs to the Adriatic Sea drainage basin. It flows to the south between the mountains of Korab to the west and Ničipurska planina to the east. At the village of Volkovija, an artificial bifurcation is created, as the waters of the Upper Radika are conducted into the artificial lake Mavrovo at the village of Mavrovi Anovi and from there, via the Mavrovo system of the hydroelectric power plants, into the Vardar river (in this bifurcational flow, it even receives a tributuary, small stream of Beličica from the right).
[edit] Lower Radika
In the lower, 44 km-long section of the course, the Radika continues its general direction to the south. It carved a long and 1 km deep gorge between the mountains of Bistra (on the east) and Korab and Dešat on the west. Apart from several villages (Boletin, Rostuša, Prisojnica, Skudrinje), the monastery of Sveti Jovan Bigorski, the spa of Kosovratska banja (with sulphuric water, hot up to 49 °C) and the unique Alčija cave, formed in alabaster. Alabaster is abundant in the surrounding terrain and it has been extractd and treated for industrial and commercial use in the town of Debar.
After the gorge, the Radika receives its major tributary, the Valovica river from the right and flows on the northern slopes of the Stogovo mountain. After the villages of Dolno Kosovrasti, Dolni Melničani, Gorenci and Rajčica, the Radika empties into the Crni Drim, just south of Debar. Actually, the lowest section of the river is floodbed by the artificial lake Debar on the Crni Drim, becoming one of lake's bays.
Overall, the Radika belongs to the Adriac Sea drainage basin, drains an area of 665 km² itself and it is not navigable.
The Radika has huge possibilities for the hydroelectric power production, which is partially used in its upper course. Also, the river valley is the natural route for the major road road cin Western Macedonia which connects the depressions of Polog and Ohrid.
[edit] References
- Mala Prosvetina Enciklopedija, Third edition (1985); Prosveta; ISBN 86-07-00001-2
- Jovan Đ. Marković (1990): Enciklopedijski geografski leksikon Jugoslavije; Svjetlost-Sarajevo; ISBN 86-01-02651-6
