The Poprad (, ) is a river in northern

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 ...

, and a tributary of the Dunajec River near

Stary Sącz Stary Sącz is a small historic town in Lesser Poland Voivodeship of southern Poland. It is the seat of the Gmina Stary Sącz (commune), and one of the oldest towns in the country, receiving Magdeburg rights in the 13th century. Geography Star ...

, Poland. It has a length of 170 kilometres (63 km of which are within the Polish borders) and a basin area of 2,077 km², (1,594 km² of which is in

, and 483 km² in Poland). Much of the Polish part of its basin is included in the

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

called Poprad Landscape Park featuring the Poprad River Gorge, a popular tourist destination between the towns of Piwniczna and Rytro. Poprad is the only large Slovak river flowing north into southern Poland. The river flows through the Slovak towns of

Poprad Poprad (; ; ) is a city in northern Slovakia at the foot of the High Tatras, High Tatra Mountains, famous for its picturesque historic centre and as a holiday resort. The largest town of the Spiš region and the largest of all towns in the vic ...

Kežmarok Kežmarok ( or ; , , , ) is a town in the Spiš region of eastern Slovakia (population 16,000), on the Poprad River. Prior to World War I, it was in Szepes county in the Kingdom of Hungary. History Settlement at Kežmarok dates back to the Up ...

Stará Ľubovňa Stará Ľubovňa (, , , , , ) is a town with approximately 16,000 inhabitants in northeastern Slovakia. The town consists of the districts Podsadek and Stará Ľubovňa. Names The name is of Slovak or Slavic origin and is potentially derived fro ...

, then forms for 31.1 km the Polish-Slovak border and flows through the Polish towns of

Krynica-Zdrój Krynica-Zdrój (until 31 December 2001 Krynica, Rusyn language, Rusyn: Криниця ) is a town in Nowy Sącz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern Poland. It is inhabited by over eleven thousand people. It is the biggest spa town in Pola ...

, Muszyna,

Piwniczna-Zdrój Piwniczna-Zdrój (until 1999 Piwniczna, , ''Pivnichna'') is a town in Nowy Sącz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland, near the border with Slovakia. Piwniczna-Zdrój is the name of both the town and its administrative district called a gmina ...

, Rytro,

, and Żegiestów, among others.

Etymology

The name is derived from a Proto-Slavic verb ''pręd-'' (to flow fast, to jump), preserved in the Slovak words ''priasť'', ''pradenie'' (to spin,

spinning Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

References

Bibliography

* * Zofia Radwańska-Paryska, Witold Henryk Paryski; ''Wielka encyklopedia tatrzańska.'' Poronin: ''Wydawnictwo Górskie'', 2004. . * ''Beskid Sądecki. Mapa 1:50 000.'' Piwniczna: ''Agencja Wyd. „Wit”.'' . * Jerzy Kondracki, ''Geografia regionalna Polski.'' Warszawa: ''Wyd. Naukowe PWN'', 1998. Spiš Rivers of Slovakia Rivers of Lesser Poland Voivodeship International rivers of Europe {{Poland-river-stub

Etymology

See also

References

Bibliography