The Danube Basin

Basic Informations

Danube is the second-longest river of Europe (after the Volga). It rises in Germany, then crosses Austria (it waters Vienna), Slovakia (it waters Bratislava) and Hungary (it crosses Budapest). It then forms the serbo-croatian border, crosses Serbia and waters Belgrade. The river then forms the border between Romania (North) and Bulgaria (South). It then enters Romania, forms a part of the border with Ukraine before entering the Black Sea through a large swampy delta which is an important natural reserve.

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Length : 1 770 mi (2 850 km)
Basin area : more than 312 000 sq mi (800 000 sq km)
Flow at the mouth : 6 500 m3/s
Main tributaries : Inn, Drave, Tisza, Save, Morava, Prout.
Main human constructions : Gabcikovo dam: in 1992, Czechoslovakia diverted a part of the Danube waters into a 15 miles-long (24 km) canal to make the hydroelectric turbines of the Gabcikovo dam run. It had very serious ecological consequences in Hungary./ The Danube is linked to the Rhine by the Rhine Main Danube Canal (Europa-Kanal). The Canal enables the communication between the Black Sea and the North Sea./ Numerous hydroelectric dams (Iron Gate, Upper Danube in Austria
and Germany)

for more information :
- WWF Danube Carpathian Program (ext)