The Ipeľ ( Slovak; ) or Ipoly ( Hungarian) (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Eipel'', archaic Slovak: ''Jupoľ'',

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''Bolia'') is a long

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, a tributary of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

River. Its source is in central Slovakia in the

Slovak Ore Mountains The Slovak Ore Mountains ( , , ) are an extensive mountain range within the Carpathian Mountains, located mostly in Slovakia's Spiš and Gemer region, with a small part in northern Hungary. It is the largest mountain range in Slovakia. Geomorph ...

. It flows south to the Hungarian

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

, and then southwest, west, and again south along the border until it flows into the Danube near Szob. The Ipeľ flows through or creates the border of the

Banská Bystrica Banská Bystrica (, also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in central Slovakia, located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Greater Fatra, Veľká Fatra, and t ...

and

Nitra Nitra (; also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra (river), Nitra. It is located 95 km east of Bratislava. With a population of ...

regions in Slovakia, and Nógrád and Pest counties in Hungary.

Towns and villages

The following towns and villages are situated on the river, in downstream order: * Poltár (SK) * Kalinovo (SK) *

Boľkovce Boľkovce (before 1948: ; or ) is a village and municipality in the Lučenec District in the Banská Bystrica Region of Slovakia. History In historical records, the village was first mentioned in 1320 and 1435 as ''Bolk'' (1467 ''Bwlyk'', 1481 ...

(SK) * Ipolytarnóc (HU) * Litke (HU) * Nógrádszakál (HU) *

Szécsény Szécsény is a town in Nógrád county, Hungary. Etymology The name comes from the Slavic ''sečь'': cutting (''Sečany''). 1219/1550 ''Scecen''. History The valley of the Ipoly and especially the area of that around Szécsény was inhabite ...

(HU) * Balassagyarmat (HU) * Ipolyvece (HU) *

Ipeľské Predmostie Ipeľské Predmostie () is a village and municipality of the Veľký Krtíš District in the Banská Bystrica Region of southern Slovakia. See also * List of municipalities and towns in Slovakia This is an alphabetical list of the 2,891 (si ...

(SK) *

Šahy Šahy (, rarely ) is a town in southern Slovakia, The town has an ethnic Hungarian majority and its population is 7,238 people (2018), with an average age of 42.5. Geography It is located at the eastern reaches of the Danubian Lowland on the riv ...

(SK) * Vámosmikola (HU) * Pastovce (SK) * Ipolytölgyes (HU) * Salka (SK) * Letkés (HU) * Ipolydamásd (HU) * Szob (HU)

Notes and references

Rivers of Slovakia Rivers of Hungary Tributaries of the Danube International rivers of Europe Hungary–Slovakia border {{Hungary-river-stub