The Svitava (german: Zwittawa) is a river in the

Pardubice Pardubice (; german: Pardubitz) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 89,000 inhabitants. It is the capital city of the Pardubice Region and lies on the Elbe River. The historic centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monume ...

and South Moravian regions of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The Cz ...

. The Svitava rises near Svitavy, passes through

Blansko Blansko (; german: Blanz) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Svitava River on the border of the Moravian Karst. It is mainly an industrial town. Administrative parts Vil ...

, and flows into the Svratka in

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

. It is long, and its basin area is .

Etymology

The river's name referred to its clear water and was derived from ''svítat'', which meant "be clear" in Old Czech. The river is first documented in 1125 in '' Chronica Boemorum''.

References

Rivers of the Pardubice Region Rivers of the South Moravian Region Blansko District Svitavy District {{CzechRepublic-river-stub