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 Värmlan ...

into the Kattegat, at the city of

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

, 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 S ...

. The Göta älv is located in Götaland, with the river itself being a site of early Geatish settlement. Its length is . The Bohus Fortress is located by the river at Kungälv. 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 Hisingen () is the fifth-largest island of Sweden (after Gotland, Öland, Södertörn and Orust), with an area of . It is a river island, formed by the split of the Göta Älv at Bohus, and is defined to the east and south by the main arm of ...

. 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,

canal lock A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water ...

s 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 ...

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 an ...

. 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 Anians ...

, 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 from ...

south of

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

. 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 Vä ...

, 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, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism ...

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 sl ...

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 settlement ...

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