Drava

Drava or Drave
Drau, Dráva
River
Drava near Ormož, Slovenia
Countries	Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary
Cities	Lienz, Spittal an der Drau, Villach, Ferlach, Dravograd, Vuzenica, Muta, Ruše, Maribor, Ptuj, Ormož, Varaždin, Osijek, Barcs
Source	North of the Neunerkogel over the Toblacher Feld
- location	Toblach, South Tyrol, Italy
- elevation	1,450 m (4,757 ft)
- coordinates	46°43′9″N 12°15′16″E / 46.71917°N 12.25444°E / 46.71917; 12.25444
Mouth	Danube near Osijek
- coordinates	45°32′38″N 18°55′31″E / 45.54389°N 18.92528°E / 45.54389; 18.92528Coordinates: 45°32′38″N 18°55′31″E / 45.54389°N 18.92528°E / 45.54389; 18.92528
Length	710[1] km (441 mi)
Basin	40,154[1] km2 (15,504 sq mi)
Discharge
- average	670 m3/s (23,661 cu ft/s)
Map of Drava River

The Drava or Drave ^[2] (German: Drau [ˈdʁaʊ]; Slovene: Drava [ˈdɾàːʋa]; Serbo-Croatian: Drava [drǎːʋa]; Hungarian: Dráva [ˈdraːvɒ]) is a river in southern Central Europe. With a length of 710 kilometres (440 mi),^[1] 724 kilometres (450 mi) including the Sextner Bach source, it is the fifth or sixth longest tributary of the Danube, after the Tisza, Sava, Prut, Muret and perhaps Siret. Its source is near the market town of Innichen (San Candido), in the Puster Valley of South Tyrol, Italy. The river flows eastwards through East Tirol and Carinthia in Austria into the Styria region of Slovenia. It then turns southeast, passing through Croatia and, after merging with its main tributary Mur, forms most of the border between Croatia and Hungary, before it joins the Danube near Osijek.

Overview

In ancient times the river was known as Latin: Dravus, cf. Sanskrit: द्रवति, dravati, "flow". The name is most likely of Celtic or Illyrian origin (see Old European hydronymy). The river gives its name to the dravite species of tourmaline.

The Drava (along with one of its tributaries, the Slizza) and the Spöl are the only two rivers originating in Italy that belong to the Danube drainage basin. Its main left tributaries (from the north) are the Isel (contributes 39 m³/s), the Möll (25 m³/s), the Lieser (22 m³/s), the Gurk (30 m³/s) and the Lavant (12 m³/s) in Austria, and the Mur (166 m³/s) near Legrad at the Croatian-Hungarian border. Its main right tributaries (from the south) are the Gail (45 m³/s) in Austria, the Meža (12 m³/s) and Dravinja (11 m³/s) in Slovenia, and the Bednja (? m³/s) in Croatia.

Mean discharge is for the last station in the country mentioned in the source.^[1]

Course

Drava sources, Innichen

The Drava sources are located at the drainage divide between the market town of Innichen and neighbouring Toblach (Dobbiaco) in the west, where the Rienz river rises, a tributary of the Adige (Etsch). At Innichen itself the 16+ km Sextner Bach,^[3] originating near the Sextener Rotwand, joins the ~2 km long source creek. The river than flows eastwards and after 8 kilometres crosses into East Tyrol in Austria. At Lienz it flows into the Isel, sourced from the glaciers of the Venediger and Glockner Groups. The Isel (average discharge 39 m³/s) is almost three times larger than the Drava (14 m³/s) where they meet and, starting from the source of its tributary Schwarzach under the Rötspitze, the Isel (ca. 64 km) is also longer than the combined Drava and Sextner Bach (ca. 60 km) to that point.^[4][1]

The river than flows east into Carinthia at Oberdrauburg. The river separates the Kreuzeck range of the High Tauern in the north and the Gailtal Alps in the south, passes the Sachsenburg narrows and the site of the ancient city of Teurnia, before it reaches the town of Spittal an der Drau. Downstream of Villach, it runs along the northern slopes of the Karawanks to Ferlach and Lavamünd.

The Drava passes into Slovenia at Dravograd, from where it runs for 142 kilometres (88 mi)^[5] via Vuzenica, Muta, Ruše, and Maribor to Ptuj and the border with Croatia at Ormož. The river then passes Varaždin, Belišće and Osijek in Croatia, and Barcs in Hungary. It is navigable for about 90 kilometres (56 mi) from Čađavica in Croatia to its mouth.^[5]

The hydrological parameters of Drava are regularly monitored in Croatia at Botovo, Terezino Polje, Donji Miholjac and Osijek.^[6]

Hydroelectric power plants

Currently, there are 22 hydroelectric power plants on the Drava. The power plants are listed beginning at the headwaters:

The Drava river is one of the most energetically exploited rivers in the world, whereas almost 100% of its water potential energy is exploited. ^{[10] [11]} As the region of the river is a place of exceptional biodiversity, this raises several ecological concerns, together with other kids of exploitation such as use of river deposits. ^{[12] [13]}

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Drava.

• DrauDrava - old river and new sounds
• Condition of Drava in various locations in Slovenia:
  • Črneče - graphs, in the following order, of water level, flow and temperature data for the past 30 days (taken in Črneče by ARSO)
  • Ptuj - graphs, in the following order, of water level, flow and temperature data for the past 30 days (taken in Ptuj by ARSO)
  • Borl - graphs, in the following order, of water level, flow and temperature data for the past 30 days (taken in Borl by ARSO)

Hydrography of Croatia
Rivers	Sava Drava Kupa Danube Bosut Korana Bednja Lonja Česma Una Vuka Dobra Cetina Glina Karašica Sutla Orljava Ilova Odra Lika Krapina Krka Pakra Sunja Zrmanja Mura Plitvica Mrežnica Glogovnica Kupčina Mirna Trnava Spačva Boljunčica Karašica Raša Neretva Rječina Studva Slunjčica Gacka Jadro Ombla
Lakes	Vrana (Dalmatia) Dubrava Peruća Prokljan Varaždin Vrana (Cres) Krušćica Plitvice Baćina Trakošćan
Valleys, estuaries, canyons, wetlands	Lim Paklenica Kopački Rit Lonjsko Polje
Waterfalls	Galovački buk Skradinski buk Roški slap Štrbački buk Large waterfall (Plitvice)

Hydrography of Slovenia
Rivers	Bača Big Krka Bolska Čabranka Dragonja Drava Dravinja Dreta Fram Creek Gradaščica Hudinja Idrijca Iška Ledava Ložnica Kamnik Bistrica Kokra Koritnica Krka Kolpa Krupa Lahinja Ljubljanica Meža Mirna Mislinja Mura Nadiža Nevljica Oplotniščica Paka Pesnica Pivka Polskava Pšata Radulja Reka Rinža Rižana Sava Sava Bohinjka Sava Dolinka Savinja Ščavnica Soča Sora Sotla Temenica Tržič Bistrica Vipava Voglajna
Streams	Aslivka Besnica Big Božna Borovniščica Davščica Dobličica Glinščica Kobilje Creek Logaščica Nadiža Obrh Rak Reka Tunjščica
Waterfalls	Javornik Falls Peričnik Falls Rinka Falls
Lakes	Black Lake in the Triglav Lakes Valley Lake Bled Lake Bohinj Lake Cerknica Lake Gradišče Lake Kreda Lake Palčje Lake Ptuj Lake Trboje Lake Žovnek Wild Lake
Wetlands	Ljubljana Marshes Sečovlje Saltworks Škocjan Caves
Sea	Adriatic Sea
River valleys	Log Koritnica Valley Logar Valley Radovna Valley Rak Škocjan Soča Valley Trenta Valley Triglav Lakes Valley Tuhinj Valley Upper Sava Valley Vipava Valley
Canyons and gorges	Bistrica Gorge Dovžan Gorge Hell Gorge Iška Gorge Ribnica Gorge Vintgar Gorge

The Danube
Countries	Germany Austria Slovakia Hungary Croatia Serbia Bulgaria Romania Moldova Ukraine
Cities	Ulm Ingolstadt Regensburg Passau Linz Vienna Bratislava Győr Budapest Vukovar Novi Sad Belgrade Ruse Brăila Galați Izmail Tulcea
Tributaries	Iller Lech Regen Isar Inn Morava Váh Hron Ipeľ/Ipoly Drava Tisza/Tisa Sava Timiș/Tamiš Great Morava Timok Jiu Iskar Olt Osam Yantra Vedea Argeș Ialomița Siret Prut
See also	List of islands in the Danube List of crossings of the Danube

Bibliography