The Lahinja is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

White Carniola White Carniola ( sl, Bela krajina; german: Weißkrain or ''Weiße Mark'') is a traditional region in southeastern Slovenia on the border with Croatia. Due to its smallness, it is often considered a subunit of the broader Lower Carniola region, alth ...

, the extreme southeastern part of

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. It is long and originates from several

karst spring A karst spring or karstic spring is a spring (outflow of groundwater) that is part of a karst hydrological system. Description Because of their often conical or inverted bowl shape, karst springs are also known in German-speaking lands as a ''Top ...

s at the end of a

steephead valley A steephead valley, steephead or blind valley is a deep, narrow, flat bottomed valley with an abrupt ending. Such closed valleys may arise in limestone or karst landscapes, where a layer of permeable rock lies above an impermeable substract such ...

between the villages of Knežina, Belčji Vrh, and Mali Nerajec. In its upper course the river flows towards the north in a narrow bed with a very shallow gradient, resulting in the fact that it meanders significantly. All of its major affluents join it from the west and all of them start from karst springs. At

Dragatuš Dragatuš (, german: Dragatusch''Intelligenzblatt zur Laibacher Zeitung'', no. 141. 24 November 1849, p. 48.) is a village south of Črnomelj in the White Carniola area of southeastern Slovenia. The area is part of the traditional region of Lower ...

it is joined by its major tributary Podturnščica Creek, and at

Črnomelj Črnomelj (; in older sources also ''Černomelj'', german: Tschernembl''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 4.) is a town in southeastern S ...

by Dobličica Creek. From the outflow of Podturnščica Creek the bed of the Lahinja is narrow and up to 20 m deep, with numerous bends. At the vicinity of one of them stands

Gradac Castle Gradac (; german: Gradaz)''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v dravnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 10. is a village in the Municipality of Metlika in the White Carniola area of ...

. From Črnomelj to Gradac the river has no surface affluents, but below Gradac it is joined by the high-volume and faster-flowing Krupa. After its confluence with the Krupa, the Lahinja turns towards the east. It joins the

Kolpa The Kupa () or Kolpa ( or ; from la, Colapis in Roman times; hu, Kulpa) river, a right tributary of the Sava, forms a natural border between north-west Croatia and southeast Slovenia. It is long, with its border part having a length of and th ...

Primostek Primostek () is a village in the Municipality of Metlika in the White Carniola area of southeastern Slovenia. It lies on the right bank of the Lahinja River, close to its confluence with the Kolpa River, next to the border with Croatia. The enti ...

. The Lahinja's

river 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, the ...

is asymmetric because it receives the majority of its surface affluents from the right side. It is a part of the

Sava The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally th ...

Basin. The

Lahinja Regional Park The Lahinja is a river in White Carniola, the extreme southeastern part of Slovenia. It is long and originates from several karst springs at the end of a steephead valley between the villages of Knežina, Belčji Vrh, and Mali Nerajec. In it ...

extends from Knežina to

Pusti Gradec Pusti Gradec (, often ''Pusti Gradac'', german: Oedengraz''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 7.) is a small settlement east of Dragatuš ...

, along the first seven km (4.5 mi) of the Lahinja.

References

External links

* {{Hydrology of Slovenia Rivers of White Carniola Natura 2000 in Slovenia