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The Nerodime ( sq, Nerodimja or Nerodime; sr-cyr, Неродимка) is a river in the Nerodime region of
Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
, a 41 km-long left tributary to the Lepenc river. It represents Europe's only instance of a
river bifurcation River bifurcation (from la, furca, fork) occurs when a river flowing in a single stream separates into two or more separate streams (called distributaries) which then continue downstream. Some rivers form complex networks of distributaries, typi ...
flowing into two seas, dividing into two irreversible branches. The left branch flows into the
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
, and the right branch flows into 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 ...
. For other cases see
List of unusual drainage systems The following is a list of unusual drainage systems. List Bifurcation rivers (active) * The Casiquiare canal – natural waterway connecting the Orinoco and Amazon River, Amazon rivers. * The Chicago River and Calumet River artificially divert wa ...
.


Geography

The Nerodime river rises as ''Golema Reka'' in the Nerodime mountain and is formed by the two main tributaries, Golema (Velika) Reka and Mala Reka. They join near the village of Nerodime e Epërme (Gornje Nerodimlje). From there it flows west-east direction, and the basin bifurcation occurs at the outskirts of
Ferizaj Ferizaj, . or Uroševac, . Also formerly known as Ferizovići ( tr, Firzovik). is the sixth largest city in Kosovo by population and seat of Ferizaj Municipality and Ferizaj District. Ferizaj has been populated since the prehistoric era by t ...
. The northern branch drains into the
Sitnica river The Sitnica ( sq, Sitnicë; sr-Cyrl, Ситница) is a river in Kosovo. It flows into the Ibar at Mitrovica, and it is the longest river that flows completely within Kosovo. History In the 14th century, during the reign of king Milutin, ...
and via the Iber, Morava and
Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
ultimately into the Black Sea, while the main, southern branch, joins with another branch of the Nerodime river and together continue the journey to the Aegean Sea via the Lepenc and
Vardar The Vardar (; mk, , , ) or Axios () is the longest river in North Macedonia and the second longest river in Greece, in which it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . Th ...
rivers. After the major settlement of southern Kosovo, the town of
Ferizaj Ferizaj, . or Uroševac, . Also formerly known as Ferizovići ( tr, Firzovik). is the sixth largest city in Kosovo by population and seat of Ferizaj Municipality and Ferizaj District. Ferizaj has been populated since the prehistoric era by t ...
, the Nerodime turns south and flows next to the villages of Varosh, Komoglava, Kacanik, Stagovo and Runjevo, before it reaches the town of Kacanik and empties into the Lepenec river. The bifurcation is actually an artificial phenomenon, as the connection was achieved by digging an artificial canal, but the downstream water flow is still natural. In the 14th century, during the reign of king
Milutin Milutin ( sr, Милутин) is a Serbian masculine given name of Slavic origin. The name may refer to: *Stephen Uroš II Milutin of Serbia (1253–1321), king of Serbia *Milutin Bojić (1892–1917), poet *Milutin Ivković (1906–1943), football ...
, a canal connecting the Sazlia pond and the river Nerodime was dug, creating an artificial bifurcation, since the Nerodimka flows to the south into the Lepenec river and thus 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 ...
, while the
Sitnica The Sitnica ( sq, Sitnicë; sr-Cyrl, Ситница) is a river in Kosovo. It flows into the Ibar at Mitrovica, and it is the longest river that flows completely within Kosovo. History In the 14th century, during the reign of king Milutin, ...
(which is an outflow of the Sazlia) flows to the north, into the Iber river and belongs to the
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
drainage basin. After
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the canal was covered with earth again as it was previously
mud A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time, real-time virtual world, usually Text-based game, text-bas ...
ded as a result of the lack of maintenance. These water flows have separate impact in annual temperatures of this region. The average annual temperature is 9.9 °C. Warmest months are July and August, with average temperature 18.9 °C. The coldest month is January, with an average temperature -2.6 °C. Maximum air temperature is 32.5 °C in July, while the minimum -14.0 °C in January. Atmospheric
precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
also plays a role of abundance water in Nerodime river. The average of rainfalls for every month is 73.3 mm. Months with the most rainfalls are April–May, 105.6 mm, while at least August with 42.2 mm.


Development strategies and protection

The bifurcation of Nerodime has been under state protection since 1979, and it is declared as a strict wildlife sanctuary, first category according to (IUCN) The official emblem of the municipality of Ferizaj contains the visual representation of the Nerodimka river bifurcation. This phenomenon is attractive for researchers and visitors and has great importance to education, science and tourism. The western part of the city offers ideal conditions for the formation of public green spaces (parks), for the development of tourism and recreation. Branch of Nerodime River enters within the city, extensive recreational area that is also available to residents of Ferizaj bifurcation area, waterfall and the merger of the two rivers. The Nerodime drains an area of itself, and it is not navigable.


Notes and references

Notes: References:


External links


The video showing the phenomena

Protected and Proposed Hydro Monuments in Kosovo

One river flowing into two seas
GBTimes Serbia / Nacionalna revija Srbija {{Kosovo topics Rivers of Kosovo Geography of Ferizaj District Geography of Prizren District River bifurcations