The Zalău ( hu, Zilah-patak) 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 river Crasna in northwestern

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. It flows through the town

Zalău Zalău (, unofficial and former official name: ro, Zălau (; german: Zillenmarkt or , hu, Zilah, tr, Zile) is the seat of Sălaj County, Romania. In 2011, its estimated population was 56,202. History Ancient times Zalău is situated in the a ...

. It discharges into the Crasna in Sărmășag. Its length is and its basin size is .

Hydronymy

There are several hypotheses which have been made regarding the origin of the river's name (or of the town with the same name located on the upper reach of the river): * the name is derived from the word "silaj", meaning belt in the language spoken by the

Eurasian Avars Eurasian Avars may refer to: * Avars (Caucasus), a people from the North East Caucasus ** Avar Khanate, Caucasus * Pannonian Avars The Pannonian Avars () were an alliance of several groups of Eurasian nomads of various origins. The peoples wer ...

* the name is derived from the expression "sil es agz", meaning bed of elm trees in Hungarian * the name is a Hungarian transcription of the "Zillenmarkt", the German name of

city.Municipiul Zalău
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Tributaries

The tributaries of the Zalău are: *left:

Valea Miței The Valea Miței or Pârâul Miței ( hu, Micevölgye) is a left tributary of the river Zalău (river), Zalău in Romania. It flows into the river Zalău north of the city Zalău. Its length is and its basin size is . References * Comitetul Jud ...

, Panic, Siciu, Lescuț *right: Guruslău

References

Rivers of Romania Rivers of Sălaj County {{Sălaj-river-stub