The Meža ( Slovene) or Mieß (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

; ) is a river in the

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 ...

n state of Carinthia and in

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, an ...

, a right tributary of the Drava. It is long, of which are in Slovenia. Its catchment area is , of which in Slovenia.

Name

The Meža River was attested as ''Mis'' in 1361, ''Mys'' in 1424, and ''Miß'' in 1476. The name is etymologically related to Czech ''

Mže The Mže (; ) is a long river, mostly in the Czech Republic. Its source is situated in the Griesbach Forest ( above sea level), Germany, near the village of Asch, in the municipality of Mähring, Tirschenreuth district. It forms the state bou ...

'' and the Russian river names '' Mzha'' and '' Mozha'', derived from Slavic ''*mьz′a'' 'dripping, drizzling'.

Course

It has its source on the Austrian side of the border north of Mount Olševa in the

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 ...

range, becomes subterranean a kilometre from its source, and reappears on the surface in Koprivna west of

Črna na Koroškem Črna na Koroškem (; german: Schwarzenbach) is a town in northern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Črna na Koroškem. It lies in the traditional Slovenian province of Carinthia, close to the border with Austria. Since 2005 it has ...

in Slovenia. From Črna the river turns northwards and flows between the slopes of the Peca massif and the St. Ursula Mountain to

Mežica Mežica (; German: ''Mießdorf'') is a town in northern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Mežica. It lies on the Meža River in the traditional Slovenian province of Carinthia) near the Austrian border. The town developed close to ...

and Poljana. From here the river again flows eastwards to

Prevalje Prevalje (; German language, German: ''Prävali'') is a settlement in northern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Prevalje. It lies in the traditional Slovenian province of Carinthia, Slovenia, Carinthia. Prevalje lies in a valley wh ...

, and

Ravne na Koroškem Ravne na Koroškem (; until 1952: ''Guštanj''; german: Gutenstein in Kärnten) is a town in northern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Ravne na Koroškem, and the largest town and the capital of Slovenia's Carinthia region. The tow ...

, and into the Drava at

Dravograd Dravograd (; german: Unterdrauburg) is a small town in northern Slovenia, close to the border with Austria. It is the seat of the Municipality of Dravograd. It lies on the Drava River at the confluence with the Meža and the Mislinja. It i ...

. In its first part the Meža falls rapidly and is a typical

Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

river with its tributaries from the

Kamnik Alps Kamnik (; german: Stein''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, pp. 26–27. or ''Stein in Oberkrain'') is a town in northern Slovenia. It is t ...

and the Karawanks mountain range. After Črna it becomes a slow meandering lowland river. Its main tributary is the Mislinja River, which joins the Meža River northwest of the village of

Otiški Vrh Otiški Vrh (, in older sources also ''Otišni vrh'', german: Ottischnigberg) is a dispersed settlement in the hills southeast of Dravograd in the Styria region in northern Slovenia. Geography The Mislinja River joins the Meža River from the ...

near Dravograd, only a couple hundred meters before the Meža joins the Drava River. Meza otiskivrh hidrogram

The Meža Valley ( or ) within the southern Karawanks range was part of the Austrian Duchy of Carinthia up to 1919, before it was ceded to the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

according to the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Together with the adjacent Mislinja Valley and Upper Drava Valley, it has formed the traditional Carinthia () region of independent Slovenia since 1991. The Meža has been the most polluted river in Slovenia. In 1982 the singer-songwriter wrote a song about it titled "" (The Dead River). This song has even been published in primary school textbooks. The main polluter has been the Mežica lead mine and the Ravne Steelworks () conglomerate.

References

External links

Confluence of the Meža, Mislinja and Drava rivers
interactive map at Geopedia.si. {{DEFAULTSORT:Meza Rivers of Carinthia (Slovenia) Rivers of Carinthia (state) International rivers of Europe Rivers of Austria