The Kriva River ( mk, Крива Река, ''Kriva Reka'') is a 75 km long river in northeastern

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

, and the biggest left

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the Pčinja River. The name ''Kriva Reka'' means "Curved River" in Macedonian.

Geography and tributaries

Kriva Reka river flowing through Kriva palanka

The river rises at the northeastern slopes of

Osogovo Mountain Osogovo (Bulgarian/ Macedonian: ), or Osogovska Planina or Osogovski Planini (Осоговска Планина or Осоговски Планини), is a mountain range and ski resort between the south-western part of Bulgaria (Kyustendil Provi ...

below the peak Carev Vrv , at an altitude of . On the mouth close to village

Klečevce Klečevce ( mk, Клечовце) is a village in the municipality of Kumanovo, North Macedonia. It used to be a municipality of its own. Demographics According to the 2002 census, the village had a total of 573 inhabitants. Ethnic groups in the v ...

river flows at an altitude of . From the spring to the first tributary of the ''Kiselička reka'' ( from the source), the river flows northwest, then turns sharply to the southwest. The major tributaries of the Kriva Reka are: Kiselicka reka, Gaberska reka, Raska reka, Rankovecka reka, Vetunicka reka, Drzava (or Rudjinska drzava), Zivusa, Duracka reka, Kratovska reka, Povisnica and Vrlej. It belongs to the

Aegean sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...

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, t ...

. Kriva reka drains an area of around .

Bibliography

* ''Kvalitet na površinskite vodi vo slivot na Kriva reka'', O. Dimitrovska, I.Milevski, Bilten za fizička geografija,

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

, 2005.

References

{{Reflist Kriva reka, river Osogovo Waterfalls of North Macedonia