Danube River

Danube River

Danube is second longest river in Europe, it is longest river in European union region, and one of the principal transportation arteries on the continent. It is the only major European river to flow from west to east. It rises in the Black Forest region of Germany and flows in a generally easterly direction for a distance of about 2850 km, emptying, on the Romanian coast, into the Black Sea. The delta of the Danube is a region of desolate marshes and swamps, broken by tree-covered elevations. The Danube is navigable by ocean vessels to Brăila, Romania, and by river craft as far as Ulm in Germany, a distance of 2,600 km. About 60 of the approximately 300 tributaries of the Danube are navigable. The principal ones, in the order in which they merge with the Danube, include the Lech, Isar, Inn, Morava, Váh, Raab (Rába), Drava (Drau), Tisza, Sava, Siret, and Prut.

The Danube basin, more than 777,000 sq. km in area, includes parts of Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia and Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Ukraine. Important cities on the river include Ulm, Regensburg, and Passau, in Germany; Linz and Vienna, in Austria; Bratislava, Slovakia; Budapest, Hungary; Belgrade, Serbia; and Galaţi and Brăila, in Romania. Canals link the Danube to the Main, Rhine, and Odra (Oder) rivers, providing a commercial route between the Black and North seas. The Danube Valley between Linz and Vienna, Austria, is noted for its beautiful scenery.

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