The Vrbas ( sr-cyrl, Врбас, ) is a major

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 ...

with a length of , in western

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. It is a right

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

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 ...

river. The city of

Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...

is located on the river banks.

Etymology

The word ''vrba'' means '

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...

' in

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and ...

, and a number of weeping willow trees adorn the river banks in Banja Luka. It lent its name to one of the provinces ( banovinas) of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...

, the

Vrbas Banovina The Vrbas Banovina or Vrbas Banate ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Vrbaska banovina, Врбаска бановина), was a province ( banovina) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1929 and 1941. It was named after the Vrbas River and consis ...

Tributaries

The most important right tributaries are the Desna river, the

Ugar Ugar may refer to: * Ugar Khurd, town in the state of Karnataka, India * Ugar Budruk, village in the state of Karnataka, India * Ugar (river), Bosnia and Herzegovina * Ugar Island, census locality in the Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia **Step ...

, and the Vrbanja, and left: Prusačka river, Semešnica, the

Pliva Pliva d.o.o. is a pharmaceutical company based in Zagreb, Croatia that primarily manufactures and sells generic drugs. It is a subsidiary of Teva Pharmaceuticals. Pliva is one of the world's largest producers of Generic drug, generic Adderall. ...

, the Crna Rijeka (Black River), and the Suturlija, which are located in the middle part of the basin.

Geography

It is a right tributary of the river

. The Vrbas river appears at the southern slope of the

Vranica Vranica ( sr-cyrl, Враница) is a mountain range in the Dinaric Alps of central Bosnia and Herzegovina, located between the town of Gornji Vakuf in the west and the town of Fojnica in the east, within the territory of the Federation. The hig ...

mountain near the town of

Gornji Vakuf Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje ( sr-cyrl, Горњи Вакуф-Ускопље) is a town and municipality located in Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Etymology Although settlements i ...

, at around above sea level and it drains central part of the northern slopes of the Dinaric mountain massif. It empties into the

river at around above sea level. Total length of the main watercourse is around .

Climate

Average annual rainfall is around 800 L/m² at the mouth of the Vrbas to the

river and up to 1500 L/m² in the southern part of the basin. Characteristic mean flow is around 34.6 L/s/km². Maximum rainfall occurs in the southern parts of the Vrbas basin in the late autumn and winter months, with minimum quantities in summer, whereas the northern parts of the basin receive the largest quantities of rain during the summer months (June–July), with the maximum in November and December.

Ichthyofauna

The Vrbas basin is known for an abundant

ichthyofauna Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

, rich in species, and recreational and fly fishing are very popular on entire cours of the river. Especially important but critically endangered is

huchen The huchen (''Hucho hucho'') (, from German), also known as Danube salmon or redfish (german: Rotfisch), is a large species of freshwater fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. It is the type species of its genus ''Hucho''. Distri ...

, variation of

hucho ''Hucho'' is a genus of large piscivorous salmonid fish known as taimens (from Finnish through Russian ), and is closely related to Pacific trout and lenoks (all belonging to the same tribe in the subfamily Salmoninae). Native to the cold ...

species

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

for the river

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 ...

basin (hence known as Danube Salmon or Danube Taimen; Lat. Hucho hucho). Of all the Vrbas tributaries only the river Vrbanja, and possibly

, also retain healthy population of this endemic fish. Vrbas are headwaters are important spawning grounds for both, huchen and its prey, Common nase (Chondrostoma nasus) and Grayling (Thymallus thymallus).

Tourism and recreation

Rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

is very popular on the Vrbas. It is also one of the most popular form of recreation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The main attraction of the area is

Vrbas canyon Vrbas may refer to: * Vrbas (river), river in Bosnia and Herzegovina * Vrbas, Donji Vakuf, village in Donji Vakuf, Bosnia and Herzegovina * Vrbas, Serbia Vrbas ( sr-Cyrl, Врбас; hu, Verbász) is a town and municipality located in the South ...

. In 2005, the European Championships in Rafting were held on the Vrbas and the Tara rivers in

. According to the International Rafting Federation, the event was hugely successful. In May 2009 the World Rafting Championships were held again in

on the Vrbas and Tara rivers.WRC2009 in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Gallery

File:Vrbas gestaut.jpg, Near Banja Luka File:Врбас у Шехеру.jpg, File:Vrbas_reka.jpg, The river

References

{{Authority control Rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Rafting in Bosnia and Herzegovina Recreational fishing in Bosnia and Herzegovina Hucho habitats in Bosnia and Herzegovina