The Uvac ( sr-cyrl, Увац) is an international trans-boundary river, rising under

Golija Golija ( sr-Cyrl, Голија, ) is a mountain in southwestern Serbia, located between towns of Ivanjica and Novi Pazar. It is part of the Dinaric mountain range. The mountain is heavily forested with significant biodiversity. It contains the G ...

mountain and

Pešter The Pešter Plateau (), or simply Pešter ( sr-Cyrl, Пештер, ) is a karst plateau in southwestern Serbia, in the Raška (or Sandžak) region. It lies at an altitude of , with the highest point (''Kuljarski vrh'') at 1,492 meters. The terr ...

plateau, then flowing through southwestern

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

and cross into eastern

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

where, after 115 km, it finally meets the

Lim river The Lim (Serbian Cyrillic: Лим, ) or Vermosh River () is a river that flows through Albania, Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and is long.Raška region.

Upper course

The Uvac originates at the

plateau from the Ozren and

Ninaja Ninaja (Serbian Cyrillic: Нинаја) is a mountain in southwestern Serbia, between cities of Novi Pazar and Sjenica Sjenica ( sr-cyr, Сјеница, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of southwestern Serbia, on the ...

mountains, as ''Rasanska reka'' (Cyrillic: ''Расанска река''). The stream curves around the Ninaja and Pometenik mountains, next to the villages of Tuzinje, Rasno, Dragojloviće and Gradac, where it meets ''Brnjička reka'' (Cyrillic: ''Брњичка река''), enters the

Sjenica Sjenica ( sr-cyr, Сјеница, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of southwestern Serbia, on the vast Sjenica- Pešter plateau and geographically located in the central part of Sandžak. The population of the municip ...

depression and continues on the western border of the plain while receiving the right tributary Vapa (Cyrillic: ''Вапа'') in the northern end. ''Vapa'' is 25 kilometers long and drains an area of 496 km². It passes next to the villages of Gornja Vapa, Donja Vapa, Čedovo and Krstac, where it empties from the right into the shorter river Uvac.

Lower course

The Uvac continues to the northwest, enters the

Stari Vlah Stari (Slavic languages, 'Old One') may refer to: * Stari, a rural locality in Babushkinsky District of Vologda Oblast of Russia * Stari, a nickname of Đuro Pucar * Stari, a nickname of Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип � ...

region where it flows in a deep, canyon-like valley, where it receives the ''Kladnica'' river from the right and generates much power, which is used for three powerful hydroelectric power stations, each one with big artificial lake: ''Bistrica'' with

Lake Radoinja A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

, '' Kokin Brod'' with

Zlatar Lake Zlatar Lake (), or Kokin Brod Lake () is an artificial lake located among the mountains of Zlatibor and Zlatar 15 km from the town of Nova Varoš Nova Varoš ( sr-cyr, Нова Варош, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zlat ...

(7,3 km², altitude 400 m, depth 40 m) and ''Sjenica'' with

Lake Sjenica A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a depression (geology), basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land an ...

. In the lowest part of its course, the Uvac flows between the Zlatar and

Zlatibor Zlatibor ( sr-cyr, Златибoр ) is a List of mountains of Serbia, mountainous region in western Serbia. Among the most popular places in Serbia for tourism, Zlatibor's main attractions include health tourism, skiing, and hiking and the lo ...

mountains, next to the villages of Kokin Brod and Radoinja until it reaches the Bosnian border and Varda mountain, makes a sharp, elbow turn to the south and after a short flow next to the villages of Bjelušine and Uvac (both on Bosnian side), the Uvac empties into the Lim, north of the city of

Priboj Priboj ( sr-Cyrl, Прибој, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of southwestern Serbia. The population of the town is 13,172, while the population of the municipality is 23,514. Geography The municipality of Priboj i ...

. The Uvac drains an area of 1,596 km², belongs to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

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, ...

, and it is not navigable. Its average discharge at the mouth is 18 m³/s. The river is famous for its gorge, ''Kanjon Uvca'', the thriving colony of reintroduced

griffon vulture The Eurasian griffon vulture (''Gyps fulvus'') is a large Old World vulture in the bird of prey family Accipitridae. It is also known as the griffon vulture, although this term is sometimes used for the genus as a whole. It is not to be confuse ...

s and the

Uvac Special Nature Reserve , iucn_category = IV , photo = In_the_mirror_of_the_river_Uvac.jpg , photo_caption = The bridge over Uvac , location = , nearest_city = Nova Varoš, Sjenica , map = Serbia , relief = 1 , map_caption = Uvac Nature Reserve , coords = , ar ...

, protected since 1971. The river meanders wildly: though long, the straight line from the river's source to its mouth is only .

References

Sources

* ''Mala Prosvetina Enciklopedija'', Third edition (1985); Prosveta; * Jovan Đ. Marković (1990): ''Enciklopedijski geografski leksikon Jugoslavije''; Svjetlost-Sarajevo;

External links

Uvac Special Nature Reserve
Rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Rivers of Serbia Nature reserves in Serbia {{BosniaHerzegovina-river-stub