Gail ( sl, Zilja, it, Zeglia) is the name of a river in southern

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, the largest right tributary of the

Drava The Drava or Drave''Utrata Fachwörterbuch ...

. Its

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

is .

Etymology

The name ''Gail'' developed from

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old Hig ...

''Gîla'', in turn from the form ''*Gīla'' (which was also the source of the Slovene name ''Zilja''). It is likely that the name is of substrate origin, predating the Roman presence in the area. The name is believed to derive from the pre-Romance word ''*gai̯li̯a'' (from the Indo-European root ''*gʰoi̯lo-''), meaning 'foaming (water), powerful'. The river is documented as ''Gila'' in a 1090 deed. The Slovene name ''Zilja'' is also commonly cited because the lower Gail Valley is a traditional settlement area of the

Carinthian Slovenes Carinthian Slovenes or Carinthian Slovenians ( sl, Koroški Slovenci; german: Kärntner Slowenen) are the indigenous minority of Slovene ethnicity, living within borders of the Austrian state of Carinthia, neighboring Slovenia. Their status of ...

and a language region of the distinct Gail Valley dialect.

Course

The river source is located east of the

Kartitsch Saddle Kartitsch is a municipality in the district of Lienz in the Austrian state of Tyrol. Geography Kartitsch lies on both sides of the Gail River, near its confluence with the Puster Valley. The municipal area of Kartitsch is bounded in the north o ...

and the

Puster Valley The Puster Valley ( it, Val Pusteria ; german: Pustertal, ) is one of the largest longitudinal valleys in the Alps that runs in an east-west direction between Lienz in East Tyrol, Austria, and Mühlbach near Brixen in South Tyrol, Italy. The ...

in the Tyrolean municipality of

Obertilliach Obertilliach is a municipality in the district of Lienz, in the Austrian state of Tyrol. Geography It is located in East Tyrol, in a high valley of the upper Gail River east of the Kartitsch Saddle known as Lesachtal, between the Gailtal Alps ...

. It flows from west to east through the

Southern Limestone Alps The Southern Limestone Alps ( it, Alpi Sud-orientali, german: Südliche Kalkalpen), also called the Southern Calcareous Alps, are the ranges of the Eastern Alps south of the Central Eastern Alps mainly located in northern Italy and the adjacen ...

, between the Gailtal Alps in the north and the

Carnic Alps The Carnic Alps ( it, Alpi Carniche; german: Karnische Alpen; sl, Karnijske Alpe; fur, Alps Cjargnelis) are a range of the Southern Limestone Alps in Austria and northeastern Italy. They are within Austrian East Tyrol and Carinthia, and Itali ...

in the south. The river reaches the state of

Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Bavarian group. Carin ...

in Lesachtal and from Kötschach-Mauthen runs down the broader Gail Valley (german: Gailtal) with its steep slopes, parallel to the borders with

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

. Beyond its confluence with the Slizza () tributary in Arnoldstein, the Gail joins the Drava River beneath the western

Karawanks The Karawanks or Karavankas or Karavanks ( sl, Karavanke; german: Karawanken, ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps on the border between Slovenia to the south and Austria to the north. With a total length of in an east–west dir ...

mountain range near the village of Maria Gail, part of the city of

Villach Villach (; sl, Beljak; it, Villaco; fur, Vilac) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the p ...

Following the 1348 Friuli earthquake, the river's course near Villach was buried by a major landslide, causing extensive flooding. The rockslide region () along a length of is still discernible on the steep slopes of Mt. Dobratsch north of Arnoldstein. While the upper river course is largely preserved in its natural condition, a habitat for

shorebirds 245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...

like the

common sandpiper The common sandpiper (''Actitis hypoleucos'') is a small Palearctic wader. This bird and its American sister species, the spotted sandpiper (''A. macularia''), make up the genus ''Actitis''. They are parapatric and replace each other geographi ...

, the

white-throated dipper The white-throated dipper (''Cinclus cinclus''), also known as the European dipper or just dipper, is an aquatic passerine bird found in Europe, Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. The species is divided into several subspec ...

and the grey wagtail, large parts of the lower Gail have been gradually regulated since the 1870s. In recent times, some sections have been renaturated. Today the trout zone reaches up to Hermagor with 17 species, among them common barbel, the

common nase The common nase (''Chondrostoma nasus'') is a European potamodromous cyprinid fish. It is often simply called the nase, but that can refer to any species of its genus '' Chondrostoma''. Another name is sneep. Distribution The nase is found natu ...

, and the rare

souffia The souffia or western vairone (''Telestes souffia'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is found in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Romania, ...

Tributaries

* (left) * Slizza (right)

Municipalities

References

External links

Entry
at

Aeiou Encyclopedia Austria-Forum is a freely accessible online collection of reference works in both German and English about Austria-related topics. Background The predecessor of Austria-Forum, the AEIOU project was launched in 1996 by the Austrian Federal Minis ...

{{Authority control Rivers of Tyrol (state) Rivers of Carinthia (state) Rivers of Austria