The Bosna () is the third longest
river in
Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is considered one of the country's three major internal rivers, along with the
Neretva
The Neretva ( sr-cyrl, Неретва, ), also known as Narenta, is one of the largest rivers of the eastern part of the Adriatic basin. Four HE power-plants with large dams (higher than 150,5 metres) provide flood protection, power and water s ...
and the
Vrbas. The other three major rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina are the
Una, to the northwest; the
Sava, to the north, and the
Drina, to the east. This river is the namesake of
Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
. The river Bosna flows for .
The river is possibly mentioned for the first time during the 1st century AD by Roman historian
Marcus Velleius Paterculus under the name ''Bathinus flumen''. Another basic source that is associated with the hydronym ''Bathinus'' is the
Salonitan inscription of the governor of Dalmatia,
Publius Cornelius Dolabella, where it is said that the ''Bathinum'' river divides the
Breuci
This is a list of ancient tribes in the ancient territory of Illyria ( grc-gre, Ἰλλυρία; la, Illyria). The name ''Illyrians'' seems to be the name of a single Illyrian tribe that was the first to come into contact with the ancient Greek ...
from the
Osseriates
The Osseriates (also Oseriates) were an Illyrian tribe in Pannonia.''A History of Ancient Greek: From the Beginnings to Late Antiquity'' by A.-F. Christidis, 2007, p. 746, "Oseriates "name of an Illyrian tribe,"..."''The Cambridge Ancient History, ...
.
And also by the name of Basante. There was also the name Bason on the map ''From Istanbul to Vienna'' along the Danube and the Black Sea — a river-centric map by the Venetian cartographer Stefano Scolari, c. the 1710s. According to the philologist Anton Mayer the name ''Bosna'' could be derived from the
Illyrian ''Bass-an-as(-ā),'' which would be a diversion of the Proto-Indo-European root *''bhoĝ''-, meaning "the running water".
Course and tributaries
The Bosna River has created the Bosna River Valley. This has been developed as the country's industrial center and is home to close to a million people, who live primarily in several major cities. The river's biggest
tributaries are the
Željeznica,
Miljacka,
Fojnička,
Lašva, Gostović,
Krivaja,
Usora, and
Spreča rivers.
Its source is at the spring
Vrelo Bosne
The Spring of the Bosna river ( bs, Vrelo Bosne, ) is a public park in Bosnia and Herzegovina featuring the system of numerous springs of the River Bosna at the foothills of the Mount Igman, on the outskirts of Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia and Her ...
, at the
foothills of the Mount
Igman
Igman ( sr-cyrl, Игман, ) is a mountain plateau in central Bosnia and Herzegovina. Geologically, Igman is part of the Dinaric Alps and formed largely of secondary and tertiary sedimentary rock, mostly Limestone. It is located southwest of Sa ...
, on the outskirts of
Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The spring is one of Bosnia and Herzegovina's chief natural landmarks and
tourist attractions. From there, the Bosna flows northwards, through the heart of
Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
, eventually becoming a right
tributary of the
Sava River in
Bosanski Šamac.
The Bosna flows through a number of cantons. From its starting point in the
Sarajevo Canton
The Sarajevo Canton, officially the Canton of Sarajevo ( bs, Kanton Sarajevo; hr, Sarajevska županija; sr-Cyrl, Сарајевски кантон), is one of 10 cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It ...
, it flows through
Zenica-Doboj Canton
The Zenica-Doboj Canton (; hr, Zeničko-dobojska županija; sr, Зеничко-добојски кантон) is one of 10 cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The cantonal seat is the City of Zenica. ...
, Doboj Region, and
Posavina Canton, in that order. On its way north the River Bosna also passes through the cities of
Visoko,
Zenica
Zenica ( ; ; ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an administrative and economic center of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Zenica-Doboj Canton. It is located in the Bosna (river), Bosna river valley, about north of Sarajevo. Th ...
,
Maglaj,
Doboj,
Modriča and
Bosanski Šamac.
File:River Bosna, Sarajevo (4).JPG, Bosna river flow outside Sarajevo
File:Vrelo Bosne, Sarajevo park.JPG, Bosna river pond in Ilidža
File:River Bosna, Sarajevo (1).JPG, Bosna river in Ilidža
File:Ilidža Rimski most 3.jpg, Roman bridge over Bosna river in Ilidža
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bosna (River)
Rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina