The Lusatian Neisse (; ; ; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

.''Neisse River''
at www.britannica.com. Retrieved 4 Feb 2011. It rises in the Jizera Mountains, near Nová Ves nad Nisou, at the Czech border becoming the Polish– German border for its remaining , to flow into the similarly northward-flowing Oder from the left. Its

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which 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, ...

covers , of which is in Poland, the rest is mainly in Germany.Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Poland 2017
Statistics Poland, pp. 85–86 The river reaches the

tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

of the three nations by Zittau, a German town/city, after , leaving the Czech Republic. It is a left-bank tributary of the Oder, into which it flows between Neißemünde-Ratzdorf and Kosarzyn – north of the towns of

Guben Guben (Polish language, Polish and Sorbian languages, Sorbian: ''Gubin'') is a town on the Lusatian Neisse river in Lower Lusatia, in the States of Germany, state of Brandenburg, in eastern Germany. Located in the Spree-Neiße Districts of German ...

and Gubin. The river was a motivations to found Gubin as a craftmanship and trading port in the 13th Century. Since the 1945

Potsdam Agreement The Potsdam Agreement () was the agreement among three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union after the war ended in Europe that was signed on 1 August 1945 and published the following day. A ...

in the aftermath of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the river has partially demarcated the German-Polish border (along the Oder–Neisse line). The German population east of the river was expelled from Poland to Germany. It is the longest and most watered of the three rivers of its non-adjectival name in both the main languages (the two other rivers being the Eastern Neisse (; ) and Raging Neisse (Polish: ''Nysa Szalona''; German: ''Wütende Neiße'' or ''Jauersche Neiße'')). It is usually simply referred to as the Neisse.

Name

Since the river runs through the historic region of

Lusatia Lusatia (; ; ; ; ; ), otherwise known as Sorbia, is a region in Central Europe, formerly entirely in Germany and today territorially split between Germany and modern-day Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the eas ...

, the adjective "Lusatian" or "Western" before the name of the river Neisse is used whenever differentiating this border river from the Eastern Neisse (Polish: ''Nysa Kłodzka'', German: ''Glatzer Neiße'') and the smaller Raging Neisse (Polish: ''Nysa Szalona''; German: ''Wütende Neiße'' or ''Jauersche Neiße''), both in Poland.

Towns and villages

At Bad Muskau the Neisse flows through Muskau Park, a UNESCO

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. Cities and towns on the river from source to mouth include: *

Jablonec nad Nisou Jablonec nad Nisou (; ) is a city in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 46,000 inhabitants. It is the second-largest city in the region. It is a local centre for education, and is known for its glass and jewelry production, espe ...

, Czech Republic * Vratislavice, Czech Republic *

Liberec Liberec (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 108,000 inhabitants, making it the fifth largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse River, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preserved and is pr ...

, Czech Republic * Chrastava, Czech Republic * Hrádek nad Nisou, Czech Republic * Zittau, Germany * Bogatynia, Poland *

Görlitz Görlitz (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, East Lusatian: , , ) is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is on the river Lusatian Neisse and is the largest town in Upper Lusatia, the second-largest town in the region of Lusatia after ...

, Germany; Zgorzelec, Poland * Pieńsk, Poland * Bad Muskau, Germany; Łęknica, Poland * Forst (Lausitz), Germany *

, Germany; Gubin, Poland

Tributaries

Right bank: * Lubsza Left bank: * Mandau

References

External links

Bibliography on Water Resources and International Law
Peace Palace Library * Closed Germany–Poland bridges {{Authority control International rivers of Europe Rivers of Poland Rivers of Lower Silesian Voivodeship Rivers of Lubusz Voivodeship Rivers of the Liberec Region Rivers of Brandenburg Rivers of Saxony Rivers of the Czech Republic Geography of Lusatia Germany–Poland border Federal waterways in Germany Border rivers Rivers of Germany

Name

Towns and villages

Tributaries

See also

References

External links