The Ćehotina (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: Ћеxотина, ), also known as the Ćeotina, Ćotina or Čehotina, is a long river in

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

and

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. It is a right bank tributary of the

Drina The Drina ( sr-Cyrl, Дрина, ) is a long river in the Balkans, which forms a large portion of the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. It is the longest tributary of the Sava River and the longest karst river in the Dinaric Al ...

river.Statistical Yearbook of Montenegro 2017, Geography
Statistical Office of Montenegro

Course

The Ćehotina originates from the two streams in the Montenegrin region of Donji Kolašin, near the border with

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. It flows to the northwest, with many bends and curves, as it flows through the high, mountain region. The river almost has no settlements (except for the village of Vrulje), before it passes the eastern slopes of the Korijeni mountain and enters the Pljevaljska kotlina (Cyrillic: Пљеваљска котлина; Depression of Pljevlja). There, it flows through the Pljevlja coal basin and the city of

Pljevlja Pljevlja (, ) is a town located in the Northern Montenegro, Northern Region of Montenegro, situated along Ćehotina, Ćehotina river. The town lies at an altitude of . In the Middle Ages, Pljevlja had been a crossroad of the important commercial ...

itself, and continues to the region of Podgora, next to the villages of Radosavec, Židovići, Donja Brvenica and the small town of Gradac. The river flows between the region of Bukovica to the north and the northern tip of the

Ljubišnja Ljubišnja () is a Dinaric Alps, Dinaric mountain range between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. By Montenegrins the range is referred to as the highland of Montenegro. Together with the Tara (Drina), Tara, Ćehotina, Tara (Drina), Tara Canyo ...

mountain and for the few kilometers forms the border between Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. It continues next to the villages of Vikoč, Falovići, Godijeno and Brusina, before it empties into the Drina. The city of

Foča Foča ( sr-Cyrl, Фоча, ) is a town and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, located in the south-east on the banks of Drina river. As of 2013, the town has a population of 12,234 inhabitants, while the municipality has 1 ...

is built at its confluence.

Characteristics

The Ćehotina flows for 100 km in Montenegro, and 25 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has no major tributaries, most important being the Voloder, which flows into the Ćehotina near Gradac. The river has considerable hydroelectricity potential, but none of it is being used. It belongs to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

, its own drainage area covers 1,237 km², and it's not navigable.

In popular culture

Young Montenegrin band "Autogeni Trening" (Autogenic Training) have a song titled "Ćehotina". One of the most beautiful sevdalinka (type of folk song in

) is "Dvije su se vode zavadile" ("Two rivers have a quarrel"). In that song the river Ćehotina and the river Drina, who converge in the center of the city of

, are presented as two human females who conduct a dispute about which one is the prouder one. After the river Ćehotina criticizes Drina's pride as unjustified because it is the river Ćehotina that is able to flood half of Foča, the river Drina replies that the Ćehotina shall just wait until tomorrow at noon when the Drina intends to flood the city of Foča, taking with it the palace of Aladža and the beautiful girl that lives therein. The most famous interpretation is sung by sevdah singer

Zehra Deović Zehra Deović (9 December 1938 – 30 October 2015) was a Bosnian sevdalinka-folk singer and was one of the leading female singers of the 1960s and 1970s in Yugoslavia, along with Silvana Armenulić, Nada Mamula and Beba Selimović. Deović ...

who is herself a native of the city of Foča. Another notable interpretation is sung by Zaim Imamović who is also a famous Bosnian sevdah singer.

References

* ''Mala Prosvetina Enciklopedija'', Third edition (1985); Prosveta; * Jovan Đ. Marković (1990): ''Enciklopedijski geografski leksikon Jugoslavije''; Svjetlost-Sarajevo; {{DEFAULTSORT:Cehotina Rivers of Montenegro International rivers of Europe Foča Rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina