Dunajec River
Encyclopedia
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
running through southern Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. It is the right tributary
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
of the Vistula
Vistula
The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....
River. It begins in Nowy Targ
Nowy Targ
Nowy Targ is a town in southern Poland with 34,000 inhabitants , and the historical capital of the mountain region . The town is situated in the confluence of the rivers Biały and Czarny Dunajec, in a valley beneath the Gorce Mountains. It's in Nowy Targ County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship...
at the junction of two short mountain rivers, Czarny Dunajec and Biały Dunajec (Black and White Dunajec). Dunajec forms a border between Poland and Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
for 27 kilometers in the Pieniny
Pieniny
Pieniny is a mountain range in the south of Poland and the north of Slovakia.The Pieniny mountain range is divided into three parts – Pieniny Spiskie and Pieniny Właściwe in Poland; and, Malé Pieniny in Slovakia. The Pieniny mountains consist mainly of the limestone and dolomite rock strata...
Środkowe (Slovak: Centrálne Pieniny) range
Mountain range
A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
, east of the Czorsztyn
Czorsztyn
Czorsztyn is a village in Poland, in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Nowy Targ County. The village lies in Pieniny, is located in the mountain range on the current Polish-Slovakian border...
reservoir
Reservoir
A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...
. It is the only river taking waters from the Slovak territory to the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
.
The Dunajec is 274 kilometers long, running through southern Poland for 247 kilometers, which makes it Poland's fourteenth longest river. It has a basin area
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
of 6,804 square kilometres (4,852 in Poland, and 1,952 in Slovakia). On the Slovak/Polish border, it flows through the Zamagurie
Zamagurie
Zamagurie is an area in the north of the Spiš region, between the Spišská Magura in the south, Dunajec river in the north and Białka river in the west...
region, with attractions such as the Dunajec River Gorge
Dunajec River Gorge
The Dunajec River Gorge runs through the Pieniny Mountains in the south of Poland and the north of Slovakia . The gorge is characterized by some of the most interesting geological and geomorphological structures and area-specific natural ecosystems with little anthropogenic influence...
, the Trzy Korony
Trzy Korony
Trzy Korony is the summit of the Three Crowns Massif, an independent portion of a range called Pieniny Mountains in the south of Poland. Trzy Korony forms the central part of a compact group of connected mountains known as Pieniny Środkowe, consisting mainly of the limestone and dolomite rock strata...
massif
Massif
In geology, a massif is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole...
with a 500 metres (1,640.4 ft) precipice, Červený Kláštor
Cervený Kláštor
This is an article about the Slovakian village. For the monastery see, Červený Kláštor Červený Kláštor is a small village and municipality in the far north Kežmarok District in the Prešov Region of northern Slovakia, near the Polish border in the Zamagurie region.-History:A Camaldolese Monastery...
, and two Pieniny
Pieniny
Pieniny is a mountain range in the south of Poland and the north of Slovakia.The Pieniny mountain range is divided into three parts – Pieniny Spiskie and Pieniny Właściwe in Poland; and, Malé Pieniny in Slovakia. The Pieniny mountains consist mainly of the limestone and dolomite rock strata...
castles in Czorsztyn
Czorsztyn
Czorsztyn is a village in Poland, in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Nowy Targ County. The village lies in Pieniny, is located in the mountain range on the current Polish-Slovakian border...
and Niedzica
Niedzica Castle
Niedzica Castle also known as Dunajec Castle , is located in the southernmost part of Poland in Niedzica . It was erected between the years 1320 and 1326 by Kokos of Brezovica on the site of an ancient stronghold surrounded by earthen walls in the Pieniny mountains...
.
Below the two source streams Dunajec flows through a broad valley called Nowotarska Basin. It then supplies the waters of the dam in Niedzica
Niedzica
Niedzica , is a resort town in Nowy Targ County of Lesser Poland province, Poland, located on the banks of Czorsztyn lake. It is famous for Niedzica Castle, also known as Dunajec Castle, an important centre of Polish-Hungarian relations built between the years 1320 and 1326 on foundations of a...
(Jezioro Czorsztyńskie Lake) and the dam in Sromowce Wyżne
Sromowce Wyzne
Sromowce Wyżne is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Czorsztyn, within Nowy Targ County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland, close to the border with Slovakia. It lies approximately south-east of Maniowy, east of Nowy Targ, and south-east of the regional capital...
(Sromowce Wyżne reservoir). Flowing through the central part of the Pieniny
Pieniny
Pieniny is a mountain range in the south of Poland and the north of Slovakia.The Pieniny mountain range is divided into three parts – Pieniny Spiskie and Pieniny Właściwe in Poland; and, Malé Pieniny in Slovakia. The Pieniny mountains consist mainly of the limestone and dolomite rock strata...
range, it creates a picturesque turn at the Polish Slovak border between Sromowce Wyżne
Sromowce Wyzne
Sromowce Wyżne is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Czorsztyn, within Nowy Targ County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland, close to the border with Slovakia. It lies approximately south-east of Maniowy, east of Nowy Targ, and south-east of the regional capital...
and Szczawnica
Szczawnica
Szczawnica is a resort town in Nowy Targ County in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. As of June 30, 2007, its population was 7,378....
. Further down it turns to the north into the Western Beskid
Beskids
The Beskids , ) is a traditional name for a series of Eastern European mountain ranges.- Definition :The Beskids are approximately 600 km in length and 50–70 km in width...
Mountains, and Sądecka Basin (where it merges with its own largest tributary, the Poprad river). It flows across an open valley of the Beskid Foothills and falls down across Rożnów
Roznów
Rożnów may refer to the following places in Poland:*Rożnów, Lower Silesian Voivodeship *Rożnów, Lesser Poland Voivodeship *Rożnów, Opole Voivodeship...
Foothills (with two more dams: the Jezioro Rożnowskie Lake, and Jezioro Czchowskie Lake) and finally, it leads into the Sandomierz
Sandomierz
Sandomierz is a city in south-eastern Poland with 25,714 inhabitants . Situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship , previously in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sandomierz County . Sandomierz is known for its Old Town, a major tourist attraction...
Basin and the valley of Vistula Lowlands. Dunajec flows into the Vistula River in the vicinity of Opatowiec
Opatowiec
Opatowiec is a village in Kazimierza County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Opatowiec. It lies on the Vistula, approximately east of Kazimierza Wielka and south of the regional capital Kielce...
.
Towns and townships
The Dunajec flows through or near these locations:
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See also
- Dunajec River GorgeDunajec River GorgeThe Dunajec River Gorge runs through the Pieniny Mountains in the south of Poland and the north of Slovakia . The gorge is characterized by some of the most interesting geological and geomorphological structures and area-specific natural ecosystems with little anthropogenic influence...
- Rivers of Poland
- Rivers of Slovakia
- 1934 flood in Poland1934 flood in Poland1934 flood in Poland was the biggest flood in the Second Polish Republic. It began with heavy rains in the Dunajec river basin, which took place between 13 and 17 July 1934. In the following days, the flood spread to the basins of the Raba, Wisłoka, and Skawa, all of which are tributaries to the...