The Ploučnice () 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 ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, 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

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

River. It flows through the

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 ...

and

Ústí nad Labem Ústí nad Labem (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 91,000 inhabitants and is the capital of the Ústí nad Labem Region. It is a major industrial centre and, besides being an active river port, is an important railway junction. ...

regions. It is long, making it the 23rd longest river in the Czech Republic.

Etymology

The name of the river is derived from the Czech word ''plž'' (meaning '

mollusc Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

'). The river was probably originally called ''plžčnice'' (meaning "a stream full of molluscs").

Characteristic

The Ploučnice originates in the territory of

Osečná Osečná (; ) is a town in Liberec District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,200 inhabitants. Lázně Kundratice, a part of Osečná, is known as a spa village. Administrative division Osečná consists of seven municipa ...

in the

Ralsko Uplands The Ralsko Uplands () are highland, uplands and a Geomorphological division of the Czech Republic, geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic. It is located in the Liberec Region, Liberec, Ústí nad Labem Region, Ústí nad Labem and Centr ...

at an elevation of . The spring area is considered to be one of the most abundant in Central Europe, which is why this spring is the main one. The secondary spring of the Ploučnice is located in the territory of

Světlá pod Ještědem Světlá pod Ještědem is a municipality and village in Liberec District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,000 inhabitants. Administrative division Světlá pod Ještědem consists of eight municipal parts (in brackets p ...

, on the slopes of Mt.

Ještěd Ještěd (; ) is the highest mountain of the Ještěd–Kozákov Ridge in the north of the Czech Republic, at . It is the symbol of the city of Liberec. On the summit is the Ještěd Tower restaurant, hotel and television tower, designed by Kare ...

in the

Ještěd–Kozákov Ridge The Ještěd–Kozákov Ridge (; ) is a ridge and geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic. It is part of the Western Sudetes. The vast majority lies in the Liberec Region. Geomorphology Ještěd–Kozákov Ridge is a mesoregion of th ...

at an elevation of . The river flows to

Děčín Děčín (; ) is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 46,000 inhabitants. It is the seventth largest municipality in the country by area. Děčín is an important traffic junction. Administrative division Děč ...

, where it enters the Elbe River at an elevation of . It is long, making it the 23rd longest river in the Czech Republic. 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, ...

has an area of . The longest tributaries of the Ploučnice are:

Settlements

The most notable settlements on the river are the town of

Česká Lípa Česká Lípa (; ) is a town in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 37,000 inhabitants, making it the most populated Czech town without city status. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monume ...

and the city of

. The river flows through the municipal territories of

Hamr na Jezeře Hamr na Jezeře () is a municipality and village in Česká Lípa District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 500 inhabitants. It is known as a recreation centre. Administrative division Hamr na Jezeře consists of three mun ...

Stráž pod Ralskem Stráž pod Ralskem (until 1946 Vartenberk; ) is a town in Česká Lípa District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,800 inhabitants. Etymology The local castle was called Wartenberg (''Warte auf Berge'' meant "guard on th ...

Noviny pod Ralskem Noviny pod Ralskem () is a municipality and village in Česká Lípa District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 300 inhabitants. Geography Noviny pod Ralskem is located about east of Česká Lípa and west of Liberec. It ...

Mimoň Mimoň () is a town in Česká Lípa District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,400 inhabitants. Administrative division Mimoň consists of eight municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *M ...

Ralsko Ralsko () is a town in Česká Lípa District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,200 inhabitants. It comprises area of the former military training area with Hradčany Air Base. Ralsko is the fourth largest municipality ...

Zákupy Zákupy (; ) is a town in Česká Lípa District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre with the castle is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Administrative di ...

, Česká Lípa,

Stružnice Stružnice () is a municipality and village in Česká Lípa District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The c ...

Horní Police Horní Police () is a municipality and village in Česká Lípa District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 700 inhabitants. Administrative division Horní Police consists of five municipal parts (in brackets population acco ...

Žandov Žandov () is a town in Česká Lípa District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,900 inhabitants. Administrative division Žandov consists of seven municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): * ...

Starý Šachov Starý Šachov () is a municipality and village in Děčín District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 200 inhabitants. Starý Šachov lies approximately east of Děčín, east of Ústí nad Labem, and north of ...

Františkov nad Ploučnicí Františkov nad Ploučnicí () is a municipality and village in Děčín District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 400 inhabitants. It lies on the Ploučnice River. Františkov nad Ploučnicí lies approximately ...

Benešov nad Ploučnicí Benešov nad Ploučnicí () is a town in Děčín District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,500 inhabitants. The historic town centre with the castle complex is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monu ...

and Děčín.

Bodies of water

There are 99 bodies of water larger than 1 ha in the basin area. The largest of them is

Lake Mácha Lake Mácha () is a pond at Doksy in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. With an area of it is List of ponds of the Czech Republic, the largest pond in the region and therefore is called a lake, despite its artificial origin. It is a popul ...

with an area of . The largest bodies of water built directly on the Ploučnice are the Stráž pod Ralskem Reservoir and the pond Hamerské jezero. There is also the Jenišovský Pond built just beyond the main spring of the river.

Fauna

In 2007–2011, 66 species of molluscs (27% of the species living in the Czech Republic) was founded in and around the river. Among the most endangered species are ''

Clausilia bidentata ''Clausilia bidentata'', the two-toothed door snail, is a species of door snails, terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the genus ''Clausilia'' belonging to the family Clausiliidae, all of which have a clausilium. Sub ...

'', ''

Daudebardia brevipes ''Daudebardia brevipes'' is a species of air-breathing land snail or semi-slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Oxychilidae which belongs to the " Limacoid clade". Distribution The distribution of this species is ce ...

'', ''

Ruthenica filograna ''Ruthenica filograna'' is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Clausiliidae, the door snails, all of which have a clausilium.MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Ruthenica filograna (R ...

'', '' Vertigo angustior'' and '' Vertigo antivertigo''. Near

, the river meanders and this area is protected as Meandry Ploučnice u Mimoně Nature Monument. It has an area of . The river and the surrounding wetlands are home to green snaketail, scarce large blue,

large copper The large copper (''Lycaena dispar'') is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. ''L. dispar'' has been commonly arranged into three subspecies: ''L. dispar dispar'', (single-brooded) which was commonly found in England, but is now extinct, ''L. d ...

Atlantic salmon The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Hucho taimen, Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlan ...

and

Eurasian otter The Eurasian otter (''Lutra lutra''), also known as the European otter, Eurasian river otter, European river otter, common otter, and Old World otter, is a semiaquatic mammal native to Eurasia and the Maghreb. The most widely distributed member o ...

Tourism

The Ploučnice is suitable for river tourism. Due to the high volume of water, the river is navigable all year round up to Benešov nad Ploučnicí. The river meanders a lot throughout its course and flows through an intact landscape (including the Ralsko Military Training Area), which makes it one of the most attractive rivers in the Czech Republic for paddlers. A popular tourist section of the river is the Ploučnice Gap, located in

. It is an artificially created tunnel through the rock, which served the operation of a

hammer mill A hammer mill, hammer forge or hammer works was a workshop in the pre-industrial era that was typically used to manufacture semi-finished, wrought iron products or, sometimes, finished agricultural or mining tools, or military weapons. The featur ...

. It is several centuries old and is protected as a cultural monument.

References

External links

River flow at Benešov nad Ploučnicí station
– Flood Warning and Forecasting Service of the

Czech Hydrometeorological Institute The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI; ) is the central state office of the Czech Republic in the fields of air quality, meteorology, climatology and hydrology. It is an organization established by the Ministry of the Environment of the Cz ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ploucnice Rivers of the Liberec Region Rivers of the Ústí nad Labem Region Rivers of the Czech Republic