The Sutla ( Croatian) or Sotla ( Slovene) is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

flowing through

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 ...

and

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, mostly forming their border. It is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

to the

Sava The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally t ...

, itself a tributary to the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

. It is long and has a watershed area of .

Overview

The Sutla flows through the following municipalities: *in Slovenia: Rogatec, Rogaška Slatina, Podčetrtek, Bistrica ob Sotli,

Brežice Brežice (; german: Rann ) is a town in eastern Slovenia in the Lower Sava Valley, near the Croatian border. It is the seat of the Municipality of Brežice. It lies in the center of the Brežice Plain ( sl, Brežiško polje), which is part of the ...

*in Croatia:

Đurmanec Đurmanec is a municipality in the Krapina-Zagorje County in Croatia. According to the 2011 census, there are 4,235 inhabitants in the area, absolute majority of which are Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic gro ...

Hum na Sutli Hum na Sutli is a municipality in the Krapina-Zagorje County of Croatia. According to the 2011 census, there are 5,060 inhabitants in the municipality, the absolute majority of which are Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavi ...

, Desinić, Zagorska Sela, Klanjec,

Kraljevec na Sutli Kraljevec na Sutli is a village and municipality in Krapina-Zagorje County in Croatia. According to the 2011 census, there are 1,727 inhabitants in the area, absolute majority of which are Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Sla ...

Brdovec Brdovec is a municipality in the Zagreb County, Croatia. The closest town to Brdovec is neighboring Zaprešić on the east. Demographics According to the 2001 census, there are 10,287 inhabitants, 92% which are Croats. They live in 13 settleme ...

The hydrological parameters of the Sutla are regularly monitored in Croatia at Zelenjak. The division of the Sutla/Sotla basin area between Croatia and Slovenia is inconsistent in sources; Croatian sources claim either or , while Slovenian sources claim either or . Kozje Park (Slovene: ), established in 1981 as Trebče Memorial Park (), is located in Slovenian territory west of the Sotla. It covers of the landscape of the

Kozje Hills Kozje (, german: Drachenburg) is a small town in eastern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Kozje. The settlement of Kozje lies in the centre of the municipality, from Celje, from Ljubljana, and from Rogaška Slatina. It is the mai ...

(), including

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

s along the Sotla. It is the habitat of over 120 bird species and of about 950

higher plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They a ...

species. The earliest known mention of Sutla was in 1028, as Zontla. It has been suggested that the names ''Sutla'' and ''Sava'' are related, but this is uncertain. Another theory is that the name ''Sutla'' comes from the Indo-European root ''*su'', meaning 'swine'.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Rivers of Styria (Slovenia) Rivers of Croatia International rivers of Europe Croatia–Slovenia border Border rivers