List of rivers of the Czech Republic

This is a list of rivers of the Czech Republic.

Czech language distinguishes between larger (river) and smaller (stream, creek, brook etc.) watercourses; the respective nouns being řeka (feminine, "river") and potok (masculine, "stream"). River names are mostly self-standing nouns and not accompanied with the generic word for river (except when confusion might arose because name is shared with some towns, e.g. Jihlava; in such cases one sometimes says řeka Jihlava). In contrast, stream names mostly consist of two words because they contain an adjective (usually stemming from physical properties (e.g. Černý potok-"Black Stream"), usage (e.g. Mlýnský potok-"Mill Stream") or derived from location through which it flows (e.g. Rakovnický potok-"Rakovník Stream")). These two-word names are used as a whole, the word potok making an inseparable part of the name (i.e. Mlýnský potok, not just Mlýnský). There are also streams with one-word names (either masculine or feminine) akin to rivers (e.g. Botič or Modla) but they are simply considered streams due to their small size. In such cases the word potok is optional and precedes the name (potok Modla).

Contents

Drainage basins

As Main European Watershed passes through the Czech Republic, there are three directions and principal areas of drainage (very roughly overlapping with historical territories of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia): Almost 2/3 of the country is drained in NW direction through the Elbe into the North Sea. Morava River flowing towards SE collects water from eastern regions of the Czech Republic and discharges into Danube which flows to the Black Sea. The northeast and some northern portions of the territory is drained by the Oder and its tributaries like Lausitzer Neisse into the Baltic Sea. The corresponding watershed tripoint with a marker for symbolic "roof of Europe" (50°8'55"N 016°46'57"E) is located at Czech-Polish border on Mt. Klepý near Dolní Morava in Králický Sněžník Mountains.

The catchment area of the Elbe down to Czech-German border in Hřensko/Schöna covers 51,394 square kilometres (19,843 sq mi). This figure includes upper courses of some tributaries starting in neighbouring countries. The area solely within Czech borders is slightly smaller and this is the figure given in the following table, which shows Czech territory divided after drainage basins.

River level 1 level 2 level 3
Elbe 49,933[1]
Vltava 27,006.70[2]
Ohře 4,601.05[3]
Danube 21,736[4]
Morava 20,692.4[5]
Thaya 11,164.7[6]
Oder 7,217
total (km²) 78,886

Table of rivers

While the Elbe is the longest Czech-related river when measured through its overall length (i.e. including lower course in Germany), its tributary Vltava surpasses it as the longest river within territory of the Czech Republic proper (in fact Vltava even carries at confluence more water than Elbe).

Rank River Length within CR (km) Avg. discharge[7] (m³/s) Total basin (km²) Tributary to Mouth location Photo
1. Vltava 430[8] 151 28,090 Elbe Mělník
2. Elbe (Labe) 370[9] 308 144,055 North Sea Cuxhaven (Germany)
3. Morava 284[10] 65[11] 26,658 Danube Bratislava-Devín (Slovakia)
4. Ohře 256[12] 38 5,614 Elbe Litoměřice
5. Berounka (Mže) 246 36 8,823 Vltava Prague-Lahovice
6. Sázava 225 25 4,350 Vltava Davle
7. Thaya (Dyje) 209[13] 44 13,419 Morava Hohenau (Austria)
8. Jihlava 185 12 3,117 Svratka Ivaň
9. Svratka 174 15[14] 7,119 Thaya Pouzdřany
10. Jizera 164 24 2,193 Elbe Lázně Toušeň
11. Lužnice 153[15] 24 4,226 Vltava Neznašov
12. Oder (Odra) 136[16] 48 118,861 Baltic Sea Świnoujście (Poland)
13. Orlice (+Divoká Orlice) 136 22 2,036 Elbe Hradec Králové
14. Otava (+Vydra) 134 26 3,788 Vltava Zvíkov
15. Opava 129 18 2,088 Oder Ostrava-Nová Ves
16. Bečva (Vsetínská Bečva) 120 18 1,626 Morava Troubky
17. Radbuza 112 11 2,179 Berounka Plzeň
18. Úhlava 109 6 919 Radbuza Plzeň-Doudlevce
19. Moravice 105 8 901 Opava Opava
20. Chrudimka 104 6 870 Elbe Pardubice
21. Ploučnice 103 9 1,194 Elbe Děčín
22. Oslava 100 4 867 Jihlava Ivančice-Letkovice

Hierarchical list

Rivers not located themselves within the Czech Republic but possessing tributaries originating on the Czech territory are shown in strikethrough italics. Rivers over 100 km long or having average discharge greater than 10 m³/s are emphasized in bold.

Rivers flowing to the North Sea (Elbe basin)

tributaries joining the Elbe during its course through Germany (from area along Czech-German border in NW of the country, esp. from Ore Mountains)
tributaries joining the Elbe within Czech Republic, i.e. rivers from major part of Bohemia)

Rivers flowing to the Baltic Sea (Oder basin)

tributaries joining the Oder during its course through Poland (from northern parts of Bohemia (esp. around city of Liberec - Frýdlant Hills, Zittau Basin and NW slopes of Izera Mountains) and NW portion of Czech Silesia (esp. Jeseník District)
tributaries joining the Oder within Czech Republic, i.e. rivers from NE parts of the country, esp. Moravian-Silesian Region)

Rivers flowing to the Black Sea (Danube basin)

rivers from SE regions of the country (i.e. most of Moravia)

(Morava accounts for almost all discharge, the only exception being Vlára, which belongs to the Váh subbasin)

tributaries to the Danube from SW borders of the country (i.e. rivers flowing from Bohemian Forest and Upper Palatinate Forest to Upper Austria and Bavaria)

Alphabetical list

Notes

  1. ^ 144,055 km² including part of basin extending to Germany, Austria and Poland
  2. ^ 28,090 km² including part of basin extending to Germany and Austria
  3. ^ 5,614 km² including part of basin extending to Germany
  4. ^ the remaining area of the Czech Republic after subtracting of Elbe and Oder drainage basins
  5. ^ 26,658 km² including part of basin extending to Austria and Slovakia
  6. ^ 13,419 km² including part of basin extending to Austria
  7. ^ at mouth (if within Czech Republic) or at national border
  8. ^ Total length of Vltava and Elbe courses combined within Czech territory is 530 km
  9. ^ Total length of the Elbe (including territory of Germany) is 1165 km
  10. ^ Total length of the Morava (including territory of Slovakia and Austria) is 353 km
  11. ^ before confluence with Thaya
  12. ^ Total length of the Ohře (including territory of Germany) is 316 km
  13. ^ Total length of the Thaya (including territory of Austria and Deutsche Thaya) is 306 km
  14. ^ before confluence with Jihlava
  15. ^ Total length of the Lužnice (including territory of Austria) is 208 km
  16. ^ Total length of the Oder (including territory of Poland and Germany) is 861 km
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