The Timok (
Serbian and
Bulgarian
Bulgarian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria
* Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group
* Bulgarian language, a Slavic language
* Bulgarian alphabet
* A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria
* Bul ...
: Тимок; ro, Timoc), sometimes also known as Great Timok ( sr, Велики Тимок, Veliki Timok; ro, Timocul Mare), is a river in eastern
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 ...
, a right tributary of the
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 ...
. For the last 15 km of its run it forms a border between eastern Serbia and western
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
.
It is a branchy system of many shorter rivers, many of them having the same name (Timok), only clarified with adjectives. From the farthest source in the system, that of the
Svrljiški Timok, until its confluence (as ''Veliki Timok''), the Timok is 202 km long.
The area of the river basin is .
[Velika Morava River Basin]
ICPDR, November 2009, p. 2 Its average
discharge at the
mouth
In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...
is . The
Timok Valley
The Timok Valley ( sr, Тимочка Крајина, Timočka Krajina; bg, Тимошко, Timoshko; ro, Valea Timocului) is a geographical region in east-central Serbia around the Timok River. The Timok Valley corresponds to parts of two Serbi ...
is known for the most important Romanian-speaking population in Eastern Serbia.
Its name stems from antiquity, in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
it was known as ''Timacus'' and in
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
''Timachos", Τίμαχος.
[The Cambridge Ancient History Vol. 10, John Boardman, p 579, 1996, ]
Drainage system
The Timok, also named ''Veliki Timok'' to distinguish it from its tributaries, is formed by the confluence of the rivers
Beli Timok ("White Timok") and
Crni Timok
The Crni Timok (Serbian Cyrillic: Црни Тимок, "Black Timok"), also known as ''Crna River'' ( / ''Crna reka'', "Black River") or ''Krivovirski Timok'' (, "Timok of Krivi Vir"), is a headwater of the Timok River.
It originates from the nor ...
("Black Timok") at
Zaječar
Zaječar ( sr-Cyrl, Зајечар, ; ro, Zaicear or ) is a city and the administrative center of the Zaječar District in eastern Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the city administrative area has a population of 59,461 inhabitants.
Zaječar ...
. The Beli Timok is formed by the confluence of the rivers
Svrljiški Timok ("
Svrljig
Svrljig ( sr-cyr, Сврљиг, ) is a town and municipality located in the Nišava District of the Southern and Eastern Serbia, southern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the town has a population of 7,553 inhabitants, while the municipality has ...
Timok") and
Trgoviški Timok ("
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 ...
Timok") at
Knjaževac
Knjaževac ( sr-cyr, Књажевац, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zaječar District of the eastern Serbia. As of 2011, the municipality has a population of 31,491 inhabitants, while the town has 18,404 inhabitants.
The town is si ...
.
Tributaries of the Timok are
Duboki Dol
Duboki Dol ( sr-cyr, Дубоки Дол) is a village in Croatia.
Population
According to the 2011 census, Duboki Dol was uninhabited.
Napomena: ''It is formed as independent settlement in 1880.''
1991 census
According to the 1991 census, ...
,
Beslarica,
Golami Dol,
Kijevska,
Bračevicka,
Studena Voda,
Pivnica and
Eleshchev from the right, and
Lipovička River,
Crna reka,
Jelašnička reka,
Salaška reka,
Ogašu Taba,
Brusnički potok,
Urovički potok,
Plandište
Plandište (, ; hu, Zichyfalva; german: Zichydorf) is a village and municipality located in the South Banat District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The village has a population of 3,832, while Plandište municipality has 11,3 ...
and
Sikolska river from the left.
Course
The Timok turns north-west after its formation at Zaječar, running next to the villages of
Vražogrnac, Trnavac, Čokonjar, and
Brusnik. Passing between the last two it leaves the
Timok Valley
The Timok Valley ( sr, Тимочка Крајина, Timočka Krajina; bg, Тимошко, Timoshko; ro, Valea Timocului) is a geographical region in east-central Serbia around the Timok River. The Timok Valley corresponds to parts of two Serbi ...
and enters the
Negotin Valley
The Negotin Valley ( ro, Valea Negotinului; sr, Неготинска Крајина, Negotinska Krajina) is a region in northeastern Serbia. It is isolated and distanced from other parts of Central Serbia. The Negotin Valley has unusual climatic f ...
.
In the lower course the Timok has no major settlements on the Serbian side (though flowing only 7 km from
Negotin
Negotin ( sr-cyrl, Неготин, ; ro, Negotin) is a town and municipality located in the Bor District of the eastern Serbia. It is situated near the borders between Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria. It is the judicial center of the Bor District. ...
). Some 15 km before it empties into the Danube as its right tributary, the Timok becomes a border river, passing next to the Bulgarian town of
Bregovo
Bregovo ( bg, Брегово ; ro, Bregovo) is a town in the very northwest of Bulgaria, situated on the east bank of the Timok River close to its mouth. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Bregovo Municipality, Vidin Province. Th ...
and the Bulgarian village of
Baley. The river's mouth represents the northernmost point of Bulgaria, and is only 28 m above sea level, which makes it the lowest point of Serbia. The average discharge is 24 m³/s, but it can grow to 40 m³/s, and the Timok is part of 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. The main (right) tributaries in this section are ''Crna reka'', ''Salaška reka'', ''Sikolska reka'' and ''Čubarska reka'' (Cyrillic: Црна река, Салашка река, Сиколска река and Чубарска река).
Apart from the Timok Valley, the Timok gave its name to a rebellion against Serbian king
Milan Obrenović IV
Milan Obrenović ( sr-cyr, Милан Обреновић, Milan Obrenović; 22 August 1854 – 11 February 1901) reigned as the prince of Serbia from 1868 to 1882 and subsequently as king from 1882 to 1889. Milan I unexpectedly abdicated in ...
in 1883, as
Timočka Rebellion.
Economy and ecology
At
Čokonjar, the ''Sokolovica'' power plant was constructed in 1947–1951. Opportunities for higher electricity production are not used.
The river has been greatly ecologically damaged in recent years by the
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
and
heavy metal industry
Industry may refer to:
Economics
* Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity
* Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery
* The wider industrial sector ...
in Bor and
Krivelj
Krivelj ( sr-cyrl, Кривељ; ro, Criveli) is a village in the municipality of Bor, Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, s ...
and is consequently polluting the Danube with
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
,
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
and
cadmium
Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Like zinc, it demonstrates oxidation state +2 in most of ...
.
The river valley is a natural route for the road and railway
Niš
Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, while ...
-
Prahovo
Prahovo is a village on the river Danube in the municipality of Negotin, Serbia with a population of 1506 people at the 2002 census. The battle of Prahovo took place in 1810 near the village during the First Serbian Uprising (1804-1813).
Nearby s ...
.
See also
*
Rivers in Serbia
This is a list of the rivers of Serbia, either those flowing entirely or partially within Serbia proper, or just being a border rivers.
Drainage basins
All rivers in Serbia belong to the drainage basins of three seas: Black Sea, Adriatic Sea ...
*
Rivers in Bulgaria
This is a list of rivers in Bulgaria.
The longest river that Bulgaria has a bank on is the Danube (2,888 km), which spans most of the country's northern border. The longest one to run through the country (and also the deepest) is the Maritsa ...
References
* ''Mala Prosvetina Enciklopedija'', Third edition (1985); Prosveta;
* Jovan Đ. Marković (1990): ''Enciklopedijski geografski leksikon Jugoslavije''; Svjetlost-Sarajevo;
External links
{{Authority control
Rivers of Serbia
Timok Valley
Nišava District
Zaječar District
Bor District
Rivers of Bulgaria
Landforms of Vidin Province
International rivers of Europe
Bulgaria–Serbia border