| Tamiš (Тамиш) | |
| River | |
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The Tamiš river near Pančevo
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| Countries | Romania, Serbia |
|---|---|
| Counties/Province | Caraş-Severin, Timiş, Vojvodina |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | Bârzava/Brzava |
| Towns | Caransebeş, Lugoj, Pančevo |
| Source | |
| - location | Semenic Mountains, Junction of headwaters Brebu, Grădiştea and Semenic in Lake Trei Ape., Romania |
| Mouth | Danube |
| - location | near Pančevo, Serbia |
| - coordinates | |
| Length | 339.8 km (211 mi) |
| Basin | 13,085 km2 (5,052 sq mi) |
| Discharge | for * |
| - average | 47 m3/s (1,660 cu ft/s) |
The Timiş or Tamiš (Romanian: Timiş; Serbian: Тамиш or Tamiš; German: Temesch; Hungarian: Temes) is a 359 km long river originating from Țarcu Mountains (2190 m), southern Carpathian Mountains, Caraş-Severin County, Romania. It flows through the Banat region and flows into the Danube near Pančevo, in northern Serbia.
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In antiquity, the river was known as Tibiscus and Tibisis.
The drainage area covers 13,085 km² (Romania 8,085 km², Serbia 5,000 km²). With the Danube, it belongs to the Black Sea drainage basin. The river flows through Romania for 241 km, and 118 km through Serbia.
The river starts at the junction of headwaters Brebu, Grădiştea and Semenic in Lake Trei Ape.
After entering Banat, the river becomes slow and meandering.
In its lower course, the river is regulated, and for the last 53 km it is navigable. The most important port is the heavily industrialized Pančevo.
After Banat, floods occur in rainy years. Especially devastating were the floods of 2005, when the villages Boka and Jaša Tomić were badly damaged. On April 20, 2005, a level of 844 centimeters was recorded, the highest ever since the measurements began.
In the spring of 2007 works on the elevation of the embankments on the both sides of the river began, 11.5 kilometers on the right bank and 13.2 kilometers on the left. The embankments will be 30 to 70 centimeters higher than they are now and being higher than 8.5 meters should prevent any future floodings.[1]
In some parts of the low, marshy areas created by the floods, several fish-filled lakes have been created, most notably at Banatski Despotovac, Uzdin, Sakule and Slatina.
The following rivers are tributaries to the river Timiş:
Left: Brebu, Slatina, Goleţ, Bucoşniţa, Cerneţu, Petroşniţa, Valea Mare, Vălişoara, Măcicaş/Rugiu, Mâtnic, Vâna Mare, Spaia, Ştiuca, Spaici, Timişana, Şurgani, Pogăniş, Timişul Mort, Găvojdia, Lanca Birda, Bârzava/Brzava, Moraviţa
Right: Grădişte, Semenic, Teregova, Criva, Râul Rece (Hideg), Pietrele Albe, Râul Lung, Armeniş, Sadoviţa, Ilova, Groapa Copacului, Bolvaşniţa, Zlagna, Sebeş, Valea Mare, Bistra, Calova, Macioviţa, Vălişorul, Tincova, Cernola, Nădrag, Slatina, Măguri, Tapia, Iarcoş, Timişaţ
Major cities in its Romanian course are Caransebeş and Lugoj, smaller places include (from source to mouth):
Timişoara has its name derived from the river Timiş meaning the fortress Timiş and the Timiş City, even though its name indicates it, is not settled on the river, but on another Romanian-Serbian river, Bega.
From source to mouth: Jaša Tomić, Šurjan, Boka, Sečanj, Neuzina, Banatski Despotovac, Botoš, Tomaševac, Orlovat, Uzdin, Idvor, Farkaždin, Sakule, Čenta, Baranda, Opovo, Sefkerin, Glogonj, Jabuka, Pančevo
The river's old mouth into the Danube was some 40 km to the north-west, between villages of Čenta and Surduk, thus it was shorter. Canal Karaš (Cyrillic: Караш) remained marking old river bed, and the area bounded by the old and new river beds and the Danube, is called Pančevački Rit (Marches of Pančevo, Cyrillic: Панчевачки Рит). The 400 km² large wetland was constantly flooded, but since World War II it has been drained part by part and almost half of it is turned into a very fertile patch of land, suitable especially for cultivating grains and vegetables. It is managed by Serbian largest agricultural company, "PKB Beograd", which almost exclusively provides food for 2 million people in wider Belgrade area, thus Pančevački Rit is commonly nicknamed Granary of Belgrade. Stockbreeding is also very intensive, and so are fishery and hunting.
Many meandering canals and bogs remained in the marsh: slow streams of Vizelj, Dunavac, Sibnica, Butuš, Rogoznica, Buk, Belanoš and Sebeš, and large bogs of Reva, Veliko Blato (2 km²), Sebeš and Široka bara. In the south, area ends with a river island (ada) Kožara (0,44 km²).
After being almost uninhabited before 1945, today its population density is above average for Serbia as a whole, since some of the fastest growing suburbs of Belgrade (Borča, Padinska Skela and Krnjača) are built there. The whole area of Pančevački Rit belongs administratively to Belgrade's municipality of Palilula.