Pčinja (river)
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The Pčinja ( Serbian and Macedonian Пчиња ) is a 135 km long river in
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
and
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 ...
, a left tributary of the
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 ...
river.


Serbia

The Pčinja originates from several streams on the western slopes of the Dukat mountain which meet at the village of Radovnica and continue to the west originally under the name of the ''Tripušnica'' (Cyrillic: ''Трипушница''). The river creates a micro-region of Pčinja, with center being the municipal seat of
Trgovište Trgovište ( sr-cyr, Трговиште) is a town and municipality located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the population of the town is 1,785, while population of the municipality is 5,091. Settlements Asi ...
where Tripušnica meets the left tributary of ''Lesnička reka'' (Cyrillic: ''Лесничка река'') from the south and continues to the west under the name of Pčinja. The region represents one of the fastest depopulating and economically least developed parts of Serbia (population of 12,556 in 1971 (34 per km2) and 6,372 in 2002 (17 per km2; down 50%). After the Pčinja passes next to the northern side of the mountain of
Široka planina Široka Planina is a village in the municipality of Trgovište, in southeastern Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated ...
and the village of Šajince where it receives the right tributary of ''Koćurica'' (Cyrillic: ''Коћурица'') from the north, it is prevented to continue to the west by the eastern side of the Rujen mountain and turns south, into the narrow valley between the Rujen and Kozjak mountains. The small village and monastery of Prohor Pčinjski are located in the valley. Just after the river passes next to the monastery, after 52 km of flow in Serbia, the Pčinja crosses the Macedonian border.


North Macedonia

For the remaining 83 km, the river bends gently to the southwest. It passes next to the villages of Karlovce, Dragomance, Strnovac, Vojnik, Klečevce, Pčinja, Studena Bara, Gorno Konjare, Dolno Konjare and the small town of Katlanovo, with the neighboring Katlanovska Banja, the most popular spa in North Macedonia. The upper course in North Macedonia creates a micro-region of Sredorek (Macedonian: Средорек), and the lower a micro-region of Kotorci (Macedonian: Которци), with the gorge of Bader (Macedonian: Бадерска клисура) in between. In the lower course, the Pčinja follows the western side of the mountain Gradištanska and flows into the Vardar river, on the gorge of Taor section of the Vardar's course, halfway between the cities of
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 ...
and Veles. Katlanovo is located on the highway Skopje-
Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
, and even though some 25 km away from Skopje, a string of Skopje's fast growing suburbs is located along the highway ( Jurumleri,
Idrizovo Idrizovo ( mk, Идризово, sq, Idrizovë) is a settlement in the outskirts of the city of Skopje within the Municipalities of North Macedonia, municipality of Gazi Baba Municipality, Gazi Baba, Republic of North Macedonia. Demographics Acc ...
,
Petrovec Petrovec ( mk, ) is a village in the municipality of Petrovec, North Macedonia and situated about 15 km southeast of the national capital Skopje. It is the seat of the Petrovec municipality. Though rather small, the village is known through ...
), and if the city continues to grow, in some future it will reach Katlanovo and the banks of Pčinja.


Characteristics

*The Pčinja 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 ...
. Its own drainage area covers 3.140 km2, of that 1.247 km2 in Serbia and 1.893 km2 in North Macedonia. *The average discharge on the river's mouth into the Vardar is 14 m³/s, and it is not navigable. *All the major tributaries of the Pčinja are in North Macedonia: Bistrica, Petroshnica and Kriva Reka from the left; Kumanovska reka, from the right.


Gallery

File:Dolina Pcinje 06.jpg, Natural phenomenon - “Vražji kamen” in the Pčinja valley. File:Dolina Pcinje 07.jpg, Natural phenomenon - “Vražji kamen” in the Pčinja valley. File:Dolina Pcinje 01.jpg, Pčinja river valley.


See also


PIM "Ivan Milutinović", Belgrade, Serbia

Morava - Vardar (Axios) Navigation Route
(About 1,200 km shorter route (three days shorter time of navigation) from
Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
to
Port of Thessaloniki The Customs House, now passenger terminal, in the early 1900s. The Port of Thessaloniki ( el, Λιμάνι της Θεσσαλονίκης) is one of the largest seaports in the Eastern Mediterranean. It is considered the gateway Port to the Balk ...
than across
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 ...
,
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
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 ...
. Electric power production, improvement of water quality and regulation of flooding wave.)
Morava - Vardar (Axios) Navigation Route map

Hydropower and navigation system "Morava"
(Concepts of regulation of rivers Great Morava and South Morava for navigation and hydropower production.)


References

* ''Mala Prosvetina Enciklopedija'', Third edition (1985); Prosveta; * Jovan Đ. Marković (1990): ''Enciklopedijski geografski leksikon Jugoslavije''; Svjetlost-Sarajevo; {{DEFAULTSORT:Pcinja River Rivers of Serbia Rivers of North Macedonia