The Göta älv (; "River of (the) Geats") is a river that drains lake

Vänern Vänern ( , also , ) is the largest lake in Sweden, the largest lake in the European Union and the third-largest lake of all Europe after Ladoga and Onega in Russia. It is located in the provinces of Västergötland, Dalsland, and Värmland i ...

into the

Kattegat The Kattegat (; sv, Kattegatt ) is a sea area bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Skåne in Sweden ...

, at the city of Gothenburg, on the western coast of Sweden. It was formed at the end of the last glaciation, as an outflow channel from the

Baltic Ice Lake The Baltic Ice Lake is a name given by geologists to a freshwater lake that evolved in the Baltic Sea basin as glaciers retreated from that region at the end of the last ice age. The lake existed between 12,600 and 10,300 years Before Present ...

to the Atlantic Ocean and nowadays it has the largest

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

. The Göta älv is located in

Götaland Götaland (; also '' Geatland'', '' Gothia'', ''Gothland'', ''Gothenland'' or ''Gautland'') is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises ten provinces. Geographically it is located in the south of Sweden, bounded to the north by Svealand, wit ...

, with the river itself being a site of early

Geatish The Geats ( ; ang, gēatas ; non, gautar ; sv, götar ), sometimes called ''Goths'', were a large North Germanic tribe who inhabited ("land of the Geats") in modern southern Sweden from antiquity until the late Middle Ages. They are one of th ...

settlement. Its length is . The

Bohus Fortress Bohus Fortress (also known as ''Baahus'' or ''Båhus'', originally: ''Bágahús'') lies along the old Norwegian– Swedish border in Kungälv, Bohuslän, Sweden, north east from Hisingen where the Göta river splits into two branches ( north of ...

is located by the river at

Kungälv Kungälv () (old no, Konghelle) is a city and the seat of Kungälv Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 22,768 inhabitants in 2010. In 2021, the main Kungälv - Ytterby - Kareby conurbation had a combined population approachin ...

. There the river splits into two, with the northern part being the Nordre älv and the southern part keeping the name Göta älv; the two arms of the river enclose the island of Hisingen. At

Trollhättan Trollhättan () is the 23rd-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Trollhättan Municipality, Västra Götaland County. It is situated by Göta älv, near the lake Vänern, and has a population of approximately 50,000 in the city proper. It is loc ...

there is a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

, canal locks and a

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a w ...

station in the river. The locks make the river navigable, even for large cargo vessels ( long). The artificial parts are called

Trollhätte Canal The Trollhätte Canal ( sv, Trollhätte kanal) is a canal in Sweden. Trollhätte Canal connects the Göta river with the lake Vänern. The canal was opened in 1800. In 2004, the canal was proclaimed a national monument. The Trollhätte Canal and ...

. The river and the canal is part of a mostly inland waterway,

Göta Canal The Göta Canal ( sv, Göta kanal) is a Swedish canal constructed in the early 19th century. The canal is long, of which were dug or blasted, with a width varying between and a maximum depth of about .Uno Svedin, Britt Hägerhäll Anianss ...

, which spans the width of Sweden to the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

south of Stockholm. The power station supplied electric power to the heavy

steel industry Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant t ...

concentrated around

Trollhättan Falls Trollhättan Falls is a waterfall in the Göta river (Göta älv) in Sweden. The falls starts at Malgö Bridge in central Trollhättan, and has a total height of 32 metres, making up a large part of the 44 metre total fall of the river from V� ...

, contributing to its

industrial revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

. In the summer months the spillway of the dam is opened for a few minutes daily and

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

s gather to see the water rushing down the river (picture). There are concerns about whether the maximum permitted discharge of is enough in a scenario where heavy rain floods the lake Vänern, causing considerable damage. Previously this was thought not to be possible in reality, but in 2001 the lake was flooded almost above maximum level (and some upstream lakes like Glafsfjorden flooded ). In this situation, Göta älv was allowed a discharge of for months causing a big risk of landslides. Now a water tunnel between Vänersborg and Uddevalla is considered as a rescue solution. There is a large risk of landslides along the river and historical records of 15 landslides exist. The largest occurred in the years 1150, 1648, 1950, 1957 and 1977 (

Tuve landslide The Tuve landslide was a large landslide in Tuve, Gothenburg, Sweden on November 30, 1977. Some 67 houses were destroyed, killing 9, injuring about 60 and making around 600 people homeless. The slide began at 16.05 and lasted 5–6 minutes. The ...

Name in other languages

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

the river was called the ''Gautelfr'';Richard Cleasby and Gudbrand Vigfusson, ''An Icelandic-English Dictionary'', 2nd edn by William A. Craigie (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1957), s.v. ''Gautar''. in Icelandic it is ''Gautelfur''; and in Norwegian it is sometimes rendered as ''Gøtelv''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gota Alv Götaland Gothenburg Hisingen Bohuslän Rivers of Västra Götaland County Ramsar sites in Sweden

Name in other languages

See also

References