The Danube | Article about The Danube by The Free Dictionary
The Danube | Article about The Danube by The Free Dictionary
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Danube
(dăn`yo͞ob), Czech Dunaj, Ger. Donau, Hung. Duna, Rom. Dunarea, Serbo-Croatian and Bulg. Dunav, Ukr. Dunay, great river of central and SE Europe, c.1,770 mi (2,850 km) long, with a drainage basin of c.320,000 sq mi (828,800 sq km); it is second in length only to the Volga Volga
, river, c.2,300 mi (3,700 km) long, central and E European Russia. It is the longest river of Europe and the principal waterway of Russia, being navigable (with locks bypassing the dams) almost throughout its course. Its basin forms about one third of European Russia.
..... Click the link for more information.  among European rivers.
Course
The Danube rises in two sources (the Brege and Brigach rivers) in the Black Forest, SW Germany, and flows NE across S Germany past Ulm to Regensburg, where it turns SE to enter Austria at Passau. It continues SE through Upper and Lower Austria, past Linz and Vienna. It then forms the border between Slovakia and Hungary from Bratislava to Szob. At Szob, the Danube turns south and flows across the Great Alföld (plain) of central Hungary, past Budapest. After forming the northern two thirds of the Croatia-Serbia border, it enters Serbia above Belgrade, turns southeast, then east, and flows through narrow gorges, forming part of the Serbia-Romania border. The Iron Gate gorge, site of a hydroelectric dam, is there; the Sip Canal bypasses rapids in the gorge. After passing the Iron Gate, the Danube broadens again and forms most of the Romania-Bulgaria border before swinging north near Silistra and passing through E Romania to Galaţi Galaţi
or Galatz
, city (1990 pop. 326,139), E Romania, on the lower Danube. It is a regional administrative and economic center and a major inland port, home of the Romanian Danube flotilla. Grain and timber are the chief exports.
..... Click the link for more information. , where it divides into an expansive (c.1,000 sq mi/2,590 sq km) delta before entering the Black Sea. The northernmost branch of the delta runs along the frontier between Romania and Moldova and Ukraine. The central, canalized branch is the main shipping route. The Danube receives more than 300 tributaries, notably the Inn Inn
, river, c.320 mi (515 km) long, rising near the Lake of Sils, SE Switzerland. It flows NE through the Engadine valley, then through W Austria, past Innsbruck and Solbad Hall (the head of navigation), and into S central Germany.
..... Click the link for more information. , Drava Drava
or Drave
, Ger. Drau, Hung. Dráva, river, c.450 mi (720 km) long, rising in the Carnic Alps, N Italy. It flows generally E through S Austria (where it is called the Drau) and enters Slovenia.
..... Click the link for more information. , Tisza Tisza
, Serbian Tisa , Rus. Tissa or Tisa , Ger. Theiss (tīs), river, c.600 mi (970 km) long, formed by two headstreams in the Carpathians, W Ukraine.
..... Click the link for more information. , Sava Sava
, Hung. Száva, c.580 mi (930 km) long, rising in two headstreams in the Julian Alps, Slovenia, and flowing generally SE past Ljubljana and Zagreb, Croatia, then forming part of the border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and through Serbia to the
..... Click the link for more information. , and Prut Prut
or Pruth
, river, c.530 mi (850 km) long, rising in the Carpathian Mts., W Ukraine, and flowing generally SE to the Danube River at Reni. It forms the border between Romania and Moldova. The Prut is navigable to Leovo.
..... Click the link for more information. .
Navigation and Commerce
Navigable by barges from Ulm (by larger craft from Regensburg), the Danube is an important artery; in volume, however, Danubian commerce is far below that of the Rhine Rhine
, Du. Rijn, Fr. Rhin, Ger. Rhein, Lat. Rhenus, principal river of Europe, c.820 mi (1,320 km) long. It rises in the Swiss Alps and flows generally north, passing through or bordering on Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, France, and
..... Click the link for more information. . The Danube is linked to the Main Main
, river, c.310 mi (500 km) long, formed near Kulmbach, E central Germany, by the confluence of the Roter Main and the Weisser Main, both of which rise in the Fichtelgebirge.
..... Click the link for more information.  and Rhine rivers by the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal; other canals link it with the Oder Oder
, Czech and Pol. Odra, river, 562 mi (904 km) long; the second longest river of Poland. It rises in the E Sudetes, NE Czech Republic, and flows generally NW through SW Poland, then N along the Poland–Germany border to the Baltic Sea N of Szczecin, Poland.
..... Click the link for more information.  and Tisza rivers. Navigation is impeded by ice in winter and by seasonally varying water levels. Hungary and Czechoslovakia (succeeded by Slovakia) agreed in 1977 to develop hydroelectric projects, which have been pursued amid controversy. Pollution of the Danube has diminished once-rich fishing grounds and rendered the water unfit for drinking and most irrigation; cleanup has proceeded slowly. Romanian efforts in the 1980s to drain land in the delta for agriculture damaged Europe's largest wetlands, which are now being rehabilitated. During the Kosovo Kosovo
, Albanian Kosova, Serbian Kosovo i Metohija and Kosmet, officially Republic of Kosovo, republic (2011 est. pop. 1,826,000), 4,126 sq mi (10,686 sq km), SE Europe, a former province of Serbia that unilaterally declared its independence in 2008.
..... Click the link for more information.  crisis in 1999, NATO air strikes destroyed bridges across the river in Serbia, obstructing river commerce; the debris was completely cleared in 2003.
History
Under the Roman Empire (when it was known as Danubius and, in its lower course, as Ister), the Danube was the northern border against the barbarian world. As Rome declined, the Danubian plains for centuries attracted invading hordes—Goths, Huns, Avars, Magyars, Pechenegs, Cumans, Mongols, and others. The Danube increased in commercial importance in the era of the Crusades, but commerce suffered (15th–16th cent.) after the Turks gained control of its course from the Hungarian plain to the Black Sea. In the 19th cent. the Danube's economic importance as an international waterway increased. At the end of the Crimean War the Congress of Paris appointed (1856) a commission to clear the delta (below Brăila) of obstructions.
By the Treaty of Versailles (1919) the Danube was internationalized and a commission established with jurisdiction over the course from Ulm to Brăila. Germany repudiated the internationalization in 1936 and in 1939–40 forced both the navigation and international commissions to dissolve. After World War II, delegates from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, the Soviet Union, the United States, Great Britain, and France met (1948) to determine the status of the Danube. When a commission representing only the seven riparian nations was established, the three Western nations refused to sign the convention. Subsequently, the riparian nations established a new Danube commission, based at Budapest; present membership includes Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, and Ukraine.
Danube
 
(Greek, ístros; German, Donau; Hungarian, Duna; Bulgarian and Serbian, Dunav; Czech, Dunaj; Rumanian, Dunarea; Russian, Dunai), a river in Europe, second longest river after the Volga. It is 2,850 km long, drains an area of 817,000 sq km, and has a total drop of 678 m. The Danube originates on the eastern slopes of the Black Forest (in the Federal Republic of Germany) and empties into the Black Sea, forming a delta. Located completely or partially in the Danube River basin are Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Rumania, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, the Federal Republic of Germany, and part of the USSR, as well as small parts of Switzerland, Italy, and Poland.
Physicogeographical survey. According to the nature of its flow, the Danube is divided into the upper, middle, and lower courses.
The Upper Danube (to Vienna) is a typical mountain river. It flows within the bounds of the Black Forest, the Swabian-Bavarian plateau, and the narrow gap between the Alps and the Czech massif. The narrow and deep river valley has high and steep slopes. The width of the river’s channel to the city of Ulm ranges from 20 to 100 m and below that (to Vienna), from 100 to 350 m. The velocity of flow varies from 1 to 2.8 m/sec. In places the channel is protected by straightening and protective dams and dikes.
The Middle Danube (from Vienna to the gorge of the Iron Gate) cuts across the Hungarian (Danube) Plain. Here the valley is wide (5-20 km) and consists of floodplains; the river channel is meandering and branched, and the current velocity of flow varies from 0.3 to 1.1 m/sec. In places the river cuts through individual ridges and mountain ranges, thus forming gorges (the Hungarian Gates, Visegrád Gorge, Iron Gate, and Cazane Defile). In these sections the width of the valley ranges from 0.6 to 1.5 km. In places the flow narrows to 150 m, whereas the depth increases considerably (as much as 15-20 m and in the Cazane Defile, as much as 70 m) as does the velocity of flow (as much as 2.2-4.7 m/sec). As the result of regulatory operations, the meanders have been straightened, channels have been branched off, and embankments have been constructed.
The Lower Danube (from the Iron Gate to the river’s mouth) is a plain river that flows through the Walachian Plain at the bottom of a wide (7-20 km) floodplain valley; it separates into numerous branches and channels. In places the river’s width reaches 1-2 km; the river has an average depth of between 5 and 7 m and a velocity of flow ranging from 0.5 to 1 m/sec. In the delta, which has an area of 3,500 sq km, the Danube separates into three main branches: the Kilia, Sulina (the principal navigable branch), and St. George.
The Danube has a complex regime with three, well-defined phases—the spring high-water period, the summer and autumn freshets, and the autumn and winter low-water periods. The spring high water begins anywhere from February to April, lasting on the Upper and Middle Danube until May and on the Lower Danube, until June. It generally consists of two peaks. The first peak is the result of snow melting in the plains and the second (mixed), of the rains and the melting snow in the mountains. The unevenness of the snow melting and the erratic rainfall in various parts of the Danube River basin cause sharp variations in the water level. If the peaks of the high-water period or summer freshets of the Danube’s major tributaries—the Drava, the Tisza, and the Sava—coincide in time, then an enormous, common peak is formed on the Danube, which sometimes brings about flooding. During the second half of the summer the water level decreases; it sometimes rises slightly as a result of rain freshets. In October and November rains cause autumn freshets. In warm winters with thaws, high levels are also observed; the increased levels are often connected with obstructions and ice jams, which cause the river to overflow its banks and inundate the adjacent plains. During cold winters the water levels on the Danube are at their lowest. The annual magnitude of the Danube’s water-level changes varies from 4.5.5 m (at Reni) to 6-8 m (at Budapest). The Upper Danube’s (at Regensburg) mean annual flow rate is 420 cu m/sec; at Vienna (in the middle course), it is 1,900 cu m/sec and at its mouth, 6,430 cu m/sec (making an average annual flow of approximately 203 cu km). The greatest discharge in the lower reaches is about 20,000 cu m/sec and the least, 1,800 cu m/sec. The Danube empties about 120 million tons of silt and dissolved mineral substances annually into the Black Sea. The river freezes only during relatively cold winters (for about 1½ months).
More than 300 tributaries flow into the Danube, and of these, 34 are navigable. The largest tributaries on the right are the Inn, Drava, Sava, and Morava and on the left, the Morava, Tisza, Oltul, Siretul, and Prut.
A. P. M
URANOV
Economic geographical survey. The Danube has long played a large role in the commercial traffic of Central and South-eastern Europe.
Since the war, two-thirds of the river’s entire course flows within the territory of socialist countries. The rapid economic growth of these countries, a greater international division of labor, and the construction of major industrial enterprises on the banks of the Danube (at Galaţi, Braîla, Smederevo, Budapest, Dunáujvaros, Bratislava, and other cities) have created a basis for considerably increasing the freight transport (from 13.9 million tons in 1937 to 46.7 million tons in 1969, more than 40 million tons of which is transported by socialist countries) as well as the merchant fleet (see Table 1).
Table 1. Distribution by countries of freight transport and merchant fleet on the Danube