Rivers of the Czech Republic

This is a list of rivers of the Czech Republic.

Naming conventions

Czech language distinguishes between larger (river) and smaller (stream, creek, brook etc.) watercourses; the respective nouns being '' řeka'' (feminine, "river") and '' potok'' (masculine, "stream"). River names are mostly self-standing nouns and not accompanied with the generic word for river (except when confusion might arose because name is shared with some towns, e.g. Jihlava; in such cases one sometimes says ''řeka Jihlava'').

In contrast, stream names mostly consist of two words because they contain an adjective (usually stemming from physical properties (e.g. ''Černý potok''-"Black Stream"), usage (e.g. ''Mlýnský potok'' – "Mill Stream") or derived from location through which it flows (e.g. ''Rakovnický potok''-"Rakovník Stream")). These two-word names are used as a whole, the word ''potok'' making an inseparable part of the name (i.e. ''Mlýnský potok'', not just ''Mlýnský''). There are also streams with one-word names (either masculine or feminine) akin to rivers (e.g. ''Botič'' or ''Modla'') but they are simply considered streams due to their small size. In such cases the word ''potok'' is optional and precedes the name (''potok Modla'').

Drainage basins

As the Main European Watershed passes through the Czech Republic, there are three directions and principal areas of drainage (very roughly overlapping with historical territories of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia):
Almost 2/3 of the country is drained in NW direction through the Elbe into the North Sea.
The Morava flowing towards SE collects water from eastern regions of the Czech Republic and discharges into Danube which flows to the Black Sea.
The northeast and some northern portions of the territory is drained by the Oder and its tributaries like Lausitzer Neisse into the Baltic Sea. The corresponding watershed tripoint with a marker for symbolic "roof of Europe" (50°9'27"N 16°47'27"E) is located at Czech-Polish border on Mt. Klepý near Dolní Morava in Králický Sněžník Mountains.

The catchment area of the Elbe down to Czech-German border in Hřensko/ Schöna covers . This figure includes upper courses of some tributaries starting in neighbouring countries. The area solely within Czech borders is slightly smaller and this is the figure given in the following table, which shows Czech territory divided after drainage basins.

Table of rivers

While the Elbe is the longest Czech-related river when measured through its overall length (i.e. including its lower course in Germany), its tributary the Vltava surpasses it as the longest river within the territory of the Czech Republic itself. (In fact the Vltava also carries more water than the Elbe at their confluence.)

Hierarchical list

Rivers not located themselves within the Czech Republic but possessing tributaries originating on the Czech territory are shown ''in strikethrough italics''. Rivers over 100 km long or having average discharge greater than 10 m³/s are emphasized in bold.

Rivers flowing to the North Sea (Elbe basin)

;tributaries joining the Elbe during its course through Germany (from area along Czech-German border in NW of the country, esp. from the Ore Mountains)

*Elbe; leaves the Czech Republic at Hřensko, empties into the North Sea)
**'' Havel''
***Spree (c. 1 km section of upper course in Fukov salient; in Lusatian Highlands)
**''Saale''
*** Rokytnice (german: Südliche Regnitz; originates in the Fichtel Mountains)
***White Elster