The Váh (; , ; ; Wag
w Słowniku geograficznym Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich (''in Geographical Dictionary of Polish Kingdom and other Slavic countries'').) is the longest

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 ...

within

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 ...

. Towns on the river include

Liptovský Hrádok Liptovský Hrádok (; ; ) is a town in northern Slovakia, in the region of Liptov. History First mentioned in 1341, Liptovský Hrádok was named after the nearby castle. The castle, also known as Liptovský Hrádok, was built originally for use ...

Liptovský Mikuláš Liptovský Mikuláš (; until 1952 ''Liptovský Svätý Mikuláš'', ; ) is a town in northern Slovakia, on the Váh River, about from Bratislava. It lies in the Liptov region, in Podtatranská kotlina, Liptov Basin near the Low Tatra and Tat ...

Ružomberok Ružomberok (; ; ; ) is a town in northern Slovakia, in the historical Liptov region. It has a population of approximately 27,000. Etymology The name of the initial settlement located on today's Makovický street was ''Revúca'' ( Slovak "roaring ...

Vrútky Vrútky (; (rare); ) is a town in northern Slovakia, close to the city of Martin, Slovakia, Martin. It lies in the historic Turiec region. Geography The town lies at the confluence of Váh and the Turiec River (Váh), Turiec, in the Turčianska ...

Žilina Žilina (; ; ; ; Names of European cities in different languages: U-Z#Z, names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the List of cities ...

, Bytča,

Považská Bystrica Považská Bystrica (; ; ) is a town in northwestern Slovakia. It is located on the Váh river, around 30 km from the city of Žilina. It belongs to Upper Váh region of tourism. Profile Považská Bystrica is situated in a fold of mounta ...

Púchov Púchov (; ) is an industrial town in the centre of Púchov District in Slovakia, with a population close to 18,000. Geography It is located on the main train line between Bratislava and Košice. It is halfway between Trenčín and Žilina, two ...

Ilava Ilava (, ) is a town in the Trenčín Region, northwestern Slovakia. Name The name is of uncertain origin. The historic medieval names were ''Lewe'', ''Lewa'' (the same historic name as Levice), ''Lewa de cidca fluviom Vag'', later ''Ilava''. ...

, Dubnica nad Váhom,

Nemšová Nemšová () is a town in the Trenčín District, Trenčín Region in northwestern Slovakia. Geography Nemšová is located in the Ilava Basin at the confluence of the Váh and Vlára rivers, at the foothills of the White Carpathians. It is from ...

Trenčín Trenčín (, also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is a List of towns in Slovakia, city in western Slovakia of the central Váh River valley near the Czech Republic, Czech border, around from Bratislava. It has a populati ...

, Nové Mesto nad Váhom,

Piešťany Piešťany (; , , , ) is a town in Slovakia. It is located in the western part of the country within the Trnava Region and is the seat of its Piešťany District, own district. It is the biggest and best known spa town in Slovakia and has around ...

Hlohovec Hlohovec (, Hungarian ''Galgóc''), is a town in southwestern Slovakia, with a population of 21,508. Name The name comes from ''*Glogovec'', the Old Slavic name for a place densely overgrown by hawthorn. The Hungarian form ''Galgóc'' was ado ...

, Sereď,

Šaľa Šaľa (, ; , ) is a town in Šaľa District within Nitra Region in south-western Slovakia. Geography Šaľa is located on the Danubian Lowland on both banks of the Váh River, around 65 km from Bratislava and 30 km from Nové Zámky. Be ...

Kolárovo Kolárovo (before 1948: ''Guta''; or earlier ''Gutta'') is a town in the south of Slovakia near the town of Komárno. It is an agricultural center with 11,000 inhabitants. Basic information The town of Kolárovo is located in the Podunajská n ...

and

Komárno Komárno (, , ), colloquially also called ''Révkomárom'', ''Öregkomárom'', ''Észak-Komárom'' in Hungarian language, Hungarian, is a town in Slovakia at the confluence of the Danube and the Váh rivers. Historically it was formed by the "old ...

Etymology

The name is of Germanic or Slavic origin. It could be derived from old Germanic ''wȃg'' (stream) or proto-Slavic ''vagъ'', ''vaga'' (pole, stick, carved branch) referring to reinforced riverbanks. Several Slavic river names with a similar motivation exist, but pre-Slavic origin of larger rivers in Slovakia is assumed in general. The earliest mentions are ''flumen Vvaga'' (1111) and ''aqua Vvac (1113).

Geography

A left

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

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

river, the Váh is long, including its Čierny Váh branch. Its two sources, the ''Biely Váh'' (White Váh) and the ''Čierny Váh'' (Black Váh), are located in the Vysoké Tatry (High Tatras) and Nízke Tatry (Low Tatra) mountains, respectively, and it flows over northern and western Slovakia and finally feeds into the Danube near

at the

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

. The left tributaries are Demänovka, Revúca, Ľubochnianka, Turiec,

Rajčanka Rajčanka or Rajčianka () is a river in northern Slovakia springing in Strážovské vrchy near Čičmany and pouring into Váh in Žilina. It is long and its basin size is . It forms the border of Lúčanská Malá Fatra Mountains and of Strá� ...

and

Nitra Nitra (; also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra (river), Nitra. It is located 95 km east of Bratislava. With a population of ...

rivers, and the right tributaries are Belá, Orava, Varínka, Kysuca, Biela voda, Vlára, Dubová, Dudváh and Malý Dunaj rivers. In late medieval time it was a property of

Stibor of Stiboricz Stibor of Stiboricz of Ostoja coat of arms, Ostoja (also written in English as Scibor or Czibor; , , , ; c. 1348 – February 1414) was an aristocrat of Polish people, Polish origin in the Kingdom of Hungary. He was a close friend of King Sig ...

and his son Stibor of Beckov of the

Clan of Ostoja The Clan Ostoja (Moscics), Clan of Ostoja (old Polish: ''Ostoya'') was a powerful group of knights and lords in late-medieval Europe. The clan encompassed families in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (including present-day Belarus and Ukraine ...

, later passing to

Maurice Benyovszky Count Maurice Benyovszky de Benyó et Urbanó (; ; ; 20 September 1746 – 24 May 1786) was a military officer, adventurer, and writer from the Kingdom of Hungary, who described himself as both a Hungarian and a Pole. He is considered a national ...

as a gift of

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...

. It includes canals, artificial dams (

Čierny Váh Čierny (, feminine: Čierna ) is a Slovak-language surname, the counterpart of the Czech surname Černý (surname), Černý. Notable people with the surname include: *Jozef Čierny (born 1974), Slovak professional ice hockey player *Ladislav Čier ...

, Liptovská Mara, Bešeňová, Krpeľany,

, Hričov, Nosice, Sĺňava, Madunice, Kráľová and Selice) and 16 hydropower stations, whose construction started in the 1930s and increased after

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 main Slovak limited-access motorway is along the Váh (

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

–

and

–

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 ...

), as well as the main railway Bratislava – Žilina –

Košice Košice is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of approximately 230,000, Košice is the second-largest cit ...

References

Sources

Rural Development Programme of the SR 2007-2013

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vah Rivers of Slovakia Tributaries of the Danube