The Dunajec (; Goral dialects: ''Dónajec''; ) is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

running through northeastern

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

and southern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It is also regarded as the main river of the Goral Lands. It is a right

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''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 into which they ...

of the

Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

River. It begins in

Nowy Targ Nowy Targ (Officially: ''Royal Free city of Nowy Targ'', Yiddish: ''Naymark'', Gorals, Goral dialect: ''Nowy Torg'' ) is a town in southern Poland, in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It is located in the Orava-Nowy Targ Basin at the foot of the Go ...

at the junction of two short mountain rivers, Czarny Dunajec and Biały Dunajec (Black and White Dunajec). Dunajec forms the border between Poland and

for in the

Pieniny The Pieniny (sometimes also the PieninsSzafer, Władysław. 2013. ''The Vegetation of Poland: International Series of Monographs in Pure and Applied Biology''. Warsaw: Pergamon Press, pp. 156, 388. or the Pienin Mountains,Griffiths, Graham C. D ...

Środkowe (Slovak: Centrálne Pieniny)

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

, east of the

Czorsztyn Czorsztyn (German: ''Schorstin'') is a village in Poland, in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Nowy Targ County. The village lies in Pieniny, the mountain range on the current Polish- Slovak border. It is famous for the ruins of a 14th-17th-century c ...

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

Geography

The Dunajec is long, including its source river Czarny Dunajec,Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Poland 2017
Statistics Poland, p. 85-86 which makes it Poland's thirteenth longest river. It has a basin area of ( in Poland, and in Slovakia). On the Slovak-Polish border, the Dunajec flows through the Zamagurie region, with attractions such as the Dunajec River Gorge, the

Trzy Korony Trzy Korony (, ) is the Summit (topography), summit of the Three Crowns Massif, an independent portion of a mountain range, range called Pieniny Mountains in the south of Poland. Trzy Korony forms the central part of a compact group of connected m ...

massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...

with a

precipice In geography and geology, a cliff or rock face is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are co ...

Červený Kláštor Červený Kláštor (, , Gorals#Language, Goral: Švaby, ) () is a small village and municipality in the far north Kežmarok District in the Prešov Region of northern Slovakia, near the Polish border, in the Zamagurie region. History A Camald ...

, and two

castles in

and

Niedzica Niedzica (, ) is a resort village in Nowy Targ County of Lesser Poland province, Poland, located on the banks of Lake Czorsztyn. It is famous for Niedzica Castle, also known as Dunajec Castle. It lies approximately north-east of Łapsze Niżn ...

. Below the two source streams, the Dunajec flows through a broad valley called Nowotarska Basin. It then supplies the waters of the dam in

(Jezioro Czorsztyńskie Lake) and the dam in Sromowce Wyżne (Sromowce Wyżne reservoir). Flowing through the central part of the

range, it creates a picturesque turn at the Polish Slovak border between Sromowce Wyżne and Szczawnica, where it flows by Kotuńka rock which differentiates the area from the over parts of the river. Further down, it turns to the north into the Western Beskid Mountains, and Sądecka Basin (where it merges with its own largest tributary, the Poprad river). It flows across an open valley of the Beskid Foothills and falls down across Rożnów Foothills (with two more dams: the Jezioro Rożnowskie Lake, and Jezioro Czchowskie Lake) and finally, it leads into the

Sandomierz Sandomierz (pronounced: ; , ) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (), situated on the Vistula River near its confluence with the San, in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy ...

Basin and the valley of Vistula Lowlands. The Dunajec flows into the

Vistula River The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra ...

in the vicinity of Opatowiec.

Towns and townships

The Dunajec flows through or near these locations in Poland and north Slovakia:

Gallery

File:Niedzica Castle, Niedzica-Zamek village, Nowy Targ County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland.jpg,

Niedzica Castle Niedzica Castle, also known as Dunajec Castle (, , , ), is located in the southernmost part of Poland in Niedzica (Nowy Targ County in Lesser Poland). It was erected between the years 1320 and 1326 by Kokos of Brezovica on the site of an ancient ...

with the Czorsztyn Castle ruins in the background File:CervenyKlastor11Slovakia6.JPG, Dunajec and the

Mountain File:A MG 5185 Panorama.jpg, Dunajec in autumn File:Przełom Pieniński a1.jpg, Dunajec Gorge in the

mountains File:Szczawnica Dunajec 3.jpg, Dunajec in Szczawnica File:Nowy Sącz zza Dunajca.JPG, Dunajec in

Nowy Sącz Nowy Sącz (; ; ; ; ) is a city in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship of southern Poland. It is the district capital of Nowy Sącz County as a separate administrative unit. With a population of 83,116 as of 2021, it is the largest city in the Beskid S ...

File:20170814 Jezioro Rożnowskie z Tabaszowej 5398 DxO.jpg, Lake Rożnów File:Roznow zapora.jpg, Rożnów dam File:Zamek Tropsztyn - ZJ001.jpg, Tropsztyn Castle File:Czchów i Dunajec, kwiecień 2021.jpg, Czchów Castle

References

Dunajec River at Encyclopædia Britannica
{{Authority control Rivers of Slovakia Rivers of Poland Rivers of Lesser Poland Voivodeship Poland–Slovakia border International rivers of Europe Border rivers Braided rivers in Europe

Geography

Towns and townships

Gallery

See also

References