The Váh (; german: Waag, ; hu, Vág; pl, WagWag
w Słowniku geograficznym Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich (''in Geographical Dictionary of Polish Kingdom and other Slavic countries'').) is the longest

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 ...

within

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

. Towns on the river include

Liptovský Hrádok Liptovský Hrádok (; german: Neuhäusel in der Liptau; hu, Liptóújvár) is a town in northern Slovakia, in the region of Liptov. History First mentioned in 1341, Liptovský Hrádok was named after the nearby castle. The castle, also known as ...

Liptovský Mikuláš Liptovský Mikuláš (; until 1952 ''Liptovský Svätý Mikuláš'', german: Liptau-Sankt-Nikolaus; hu, Liptószentmiklós) is a town in northern Slovakia, on the Váh River, about from Bratislava. It lies in the Liptov region, in Liptov Bas ...

Ružomberok Ružomberok (; german: Rosenberg; hu, Rózsahegy; pl, Rużomberk) is a town in northern Slovakia, in the historical Liptov region. It has a population of around 27,000 inhabitants (45,000 with nearby villages). Etymology The name of the initia ...

Vrútky Vrútky (; german: Ruttek (rare); hu, Ruttka) is a town in northern Slovakia, close to the city of Martin. It lies in the historic Turiec region. Geography The town lies at the confluence of Váh and the Turiec, in the Turčianska kotlina, nea ...

Žilina Žilina (; hu, Zsolna, ; german: Sillein, or ; pl, Żylina , names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the fourth largest city of Sl ...

Bytča Bytča ( hu, Nagybiccse) is a town in northwestern Slovakia. It is located on the Váh River near the cities of Žilina and Považská Bystrica. It belongs to Upper Váh region of tourism. Etymology The name comes from a Slavic personal name ''B ...

Považská Bystrica Považská Bystrica (; german: Waagbistritz; hu, Vágbeszterce) is a town in northwestern Slovakia. It is located on the Váh river, around 30 km from the city of Žilina. It belongs to Upper Váh region of tourism. Profile Považská B ...

Púchov Púchov (german: Puchau; hu, Puhó) is an industrial town in the centre of Púchov District in Slovakia, with a population close to 18,000. Geography It is located on the main train line between Bratislava and Košice. It is half way between Tre ...

Ilava Ilava (german: Illau, hu, Illava) is a town in the Trenčín Region, northwestern Slovakia. Name The name is of uncertain origin. The historic medieval names were ''Lewe'', ''Lewa'' (the same historic name as Levice), ''Lewa de cidca fluviom V ...

Dubnica nad Váhom Dubnica nad Váhom (; Slovak before 1927: ''Dubnica'', german: Dubnitz an der Waag, hu, Máriatölgyes, before 1899 ''Dubnic(z)'') is a town in the Ilava District, Trenčín Region in Slovakia. Geography It is located on the Váh river, in the ...

Nemšová Nemšová ( hu, Nemsó) is a town in the Trenčín District, Trenčín Region in northwestern Slovakia. Geography It is located in the Ilava Basin on the Váh and Vlára rivers at the foothills of the White Carpathians. It is from Trenčín a ...

Trenčín Trenčín (, also known by other alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia of the central Váh River valley near the Czech border, around from Bratislava. It has a population of more than 55,000, which makes it the eighth largest municip ...

Nové Mesto nad Váhom Nové Mesto nad Váhom (; german: Neustadt an der Waag, Neustadtl, Waag-Neustadtl, Waagneustadtl, Waag-Neustadt; hu, Vágújhely, Vág-Újhely) is a town in the Trenčín Region of Slovakia. Geography District town located at the northern edge ...

, Piešťany, Hlohovec,

Sereď Sereď (; hu, Szered ) is a town in southern Slovakia near Trnava, on the right bank of the Váh River on the Danubian Lowland. It has approximately 15,500 inhabitants. Geography Sereď lies at an altitude of above sea level and covers an are ...

Šaľa Šaľa (; hu, Vágsellye, german: Schelle) is a town in south-western Slovakia. Geography The town is located on the Danubian Lowland, on both banks of the Váh River, around 65 km from Bratislava and 30 km from Nové Zámky. Except t ...

Kolárovo Kolárovo (before 1948: ''Guta''; hu, Gúta or earlier ''Gutta'') is a town in the south of Slovakia near the town of Komárno. It is an agricultural center with 11,000 inhabitants. Basic information The town of Kolárovo is located in the Pod ...

and

Komárno Komárno, ( hu, Komárom, german: Komorn, sr, Коморан, translit=Komoran), colloquially also called ''Révkomárom, Öregkomárom, Észak-Komárom'' in Hungarian language, Hungarian; is a town in Slovakia at the confluence of the Danube an ...

Etymology

The name is of Germanic or Slavic origin. It could be derived from old Germanic ''wȃg'' (stream) or proto-Slavic ''vagъ'', ''vaga'' (pole, stick, carved branch) referring to reinforced riverbanks. Several Slavic river names with a similar motivation exist, but pre-Slavic origin of larger rivers in Slovakia is assumed in general. The earliest mentions are ''flumen Vvaga'' (1111) and ''aqua Vvac (1113).

Geography

A left

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

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 ...

river, the Váh is long, including its Čierny Váh branch. Its two sources, the ''Biely Váh'' (White Váh) and the ''Čierny Váh'' (Black Váh), are located in the

Vysoké Tatry Vysoké Tatry (; hu, Magastátra, ; german: Höhe Tatra, ; pl, Wysokie Tatry, ; cs, Vysoké Tatry, ), formally Mesto Vysoké Tatry () is a town at the feet of the Slovak part of High Tatras in Slovakia including all the major resorts in that ...

(High Tatras) and

Nízke Tatry The Low Tatras or Low Tatra ( sk, Nízke Tatry; hu, Alacsony-Tátra) is a mountain range of the Inner Western Carpathians in central Slovakia. It is located south of the Tatras proper, from which it is separated by the valleys of the Vá ...

(Low Tatra) mountains, respectively, and it flows over northern and western Slovakia and finally feeds into the Danube near

. The left tributaries are Demänovka, Revúca, Ľubochnianka,

Turiec Turiec is a region in central Slovakia, one of the 21 official tourism regions. The region is not an administrative division today, but between the late 11th century and 1920 it was the Turóc County in the Kingdom of Hungary. Etymology The reg ...

Rajčanka Rajčanka or Rajčianka ( hu, Rajcsánka) is a river in northern Slovakia springing in Strážovské vrchy near Čičmany and pouring into Váh in Žilina. It is long and its basin size is . It forms the border of Lúčanská Malá Fatra Mount ...

and

Nitra Nitra (; also known by other alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra. It is located 95 km east of Bratislava. With a population of about 78,353, it is the fifth la ...

rivers, and the right tributaries are Belá, Orava, Varínka, Kysuca, Biela voda, Vlára, Dubová,

Dudváh The Dudváh (also: ''Horný Dudváh'', hu, Dudvág) is a lowland river in western Slovakia. Its source is located in the Čachtice Little Carpathians, and it mostly runs in parallel to the Váh The Váh (; german: Waag, ; hu, Vág; pl, Wag< ...

and Malý Dunaj rivers. In late medieval time it was a property of Stibor of Stiboricz and his son Stibor of Beckov of the Clan of Ostoja, later passing to

Maurice Benyovszky Count Maurice Benyovszky de Benyó et Urbanó ( hu, Benyovszky Máté Móric Mihály Ferenc Szerafin Ágost; pl, Maurycy Beniowski; sk, Móric Beňovský; 20 September 1746 – 24 May 1786) was a renowned military officer, adventurer, and writ ...

as a gift of

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...

. It includes canals, artificial dams ( Čierny Váh,

Liptovská Mara Liptovská Mara () is a reservoir in northern Slovakia, on the Váh river near Liptovský Mikuláš, in the Liptov region. The dam is named after one of the inundated villages. It was built in 1965–1975. The area of the reservoir is 22 km ...

, Bešeňová, Krpeľany,

, Hričov, Nosice, Sĺňava, Madunice, Kráľová and Selice) and 16 hydropower stations, whose construction started in the 1930s and increased 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 main Slovak limited-access motorway is along the Váh (

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

–

and

–

Poprad Poprad (; hu, Poprád; german: Deutschendorf) is a city in northern Slovakia at the foot of the High Tatra Mountains, famous for its picturesque historic centre and as a holiday resort. It is the biggest town of the Spiš region and the ten ...

), as well as the main railway Bratislava – Žilina –

Košice Košice ( , ; german: Kaschau ; hu, Kassa ; pl, Коszyce) is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of app ...

References

Sources

Rural Development Programme of the SR 2007-2013

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vah Rivers of Slovakia Tributaries of the Danube