Váh

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Váh
Hungarian: Vág, German: Waag, Polish: Wag
 The Váh near Piešťany.
The Váh near Piešťany.
Country Slovakia
Length 403 km (250 mi)
Watershed 10,640 km² (4,108 mi²)
Discharge mouth
 - average 196 /s (6,922 ft³/s)
 - maximum 1,825 /s (64,449 ft³/s) 1825
 - minimum 22.3 /s (788 ft³/s) 22.3
Source Čierny Váh
 - location Kráľova hoľa, Low Tatras
Mouth Danube River
 - location Komárno
 - elevation 106.5 m (349 ft)
 The current and watershed of the Váh from its Černý Váh (Southern) and Biely Váh (Northern) sources until it enters the Danube (magenta)
The current and watershed of the Váh from its Černý Váh (Southern) and Biely Váh (Northern) sources until it enters the Danube (magenta)

The Váh (Hungarian: Vág; German: Waag; Polish: Wag) is the most important river in Slovakia. A left tributary of the Danube river, the Váh is the longest river in Slovakia with a length of 403 km. Its two sources, the Biely Váh (White Váh) and the Čierny Váh (Black Váh), are located in the High and Low Tatra Mountains, respectively, and it flows over northern and western Slovakia and finally pours into the Danube near Komárno. The left tributaries are Demänovka, Revúca, Ľubochnianka, Turiec, Rajčanka and Nitra rivers and the right tributaries are Belá, Orava, Varínka, Kysuca, Biela voda, Vlára, Dubová, Dudváh and Malý Dunaj rivers.

It includes canals, artificial dams (Čierny Váh, Liptovská Mara, Bešeňová, Krpeľany, Žilina, Hričov, Nosice, Sĺňava, Madunice, Kráľová and Selice) and 16 hydropower stations, whose construction started in the 1930s and increased after World War II. The main Slovak limited-access motorway is situated along the Váh (Bratislava - Trenčín - Považská Bystrica - Žilina and Ružomberok - Poprad), as well as the main railway Bratislava - Žilina - Košice.

Slovak towns on the river include Liptovský Hrádok, Liptovský Mikuláš,Ružomberok, Vrútky, Žilina, Bytča, Považská Bystrica, Púchov, Ilava, Dubnica nad Váhom, Nemšová, Trenčín, Nové Mesto nad Váhom, Piešťany, Hlohovec, Sereď, Šaľa, Kolárovo and Komárno.