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 w ...

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 ...

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, Púchov, Ilava,

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,

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 muni ...

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 and

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

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 drai ...

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 , p ...

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 (High Tatras) and Nízke Tatry (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 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 l ...

rivers, and the right tributaries are Belá, Orava, Varínka, Kysuca, Biela voda, Vlára, Dubová, Dudváh 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 as a gift of Maria Theresa. 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 opposing ...

. The main Slovak limited-access motorway is along the Váh ( Bratislava –

– Považská Bystrica –

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 t ...

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

References

Sources

Rural Development Programme of the SR 2007-2013

External links

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