The Morača ( cnr-Cyrl, Морача, ) is a major

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

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 ...

that originates in the northern region in

Kolašin Municipality Kolašin Municipality is one of the municipalities of Montenegro. Located in Northern Montenegro, municipality is part and unofficial centre of Morača (tribe), Morača region, named after Morača river. The centre is the town of Kolašin. Locatio ...

under Mount Rzača. It

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...

s southwards for before emptying into

Lake Skadar Lake Skadar or Lake Scutari (, ; cnr-Cyrl-Latn, Скадарско језеро, Skadarsko jezero, )also called Lake Shkodra (and ''Lake Shkodër'')lies on the border of Albania and Montenegro, and is the largest lake in Southern Europe. It is n ...

. Its

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, ...

covers .Statistical Yearbook of Montenegro 2017, Geography
Statistical Office of Montenegro In its upper flow the Morača is a fast mountain river. Just north of

Podgorica Podgorica ( cnr-Cyrl, Подгорица; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Histor ...

it merges with its largest tributary, the

Zeta Zeta (, ; uppercase Ζ, lowercase ζ; , , classical or ''zē̂ta''; ''zíta'') is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 7. It was derived from the Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician letter zay ...

, which it then cuts a rocky

canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...

before entering the

Zeta plain The Zeta Plain ( cnr-Latn-Cyrl, Zetska ravnica, Зетска равница, separator=" / ", ) is a fertile lowland in Montenegro. It stretches from Podgorica in the north to the Skadar Lake in the south. It is the biggest plains area in Montene ...

. It flows through the surrounding flatland until it empties into

on the border with

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. A shorter, much broader, meandering, approximately sea-level river, the Bojana, flows through the northwest corner of Albania until it drains into the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

Ada Bojana Ada Bojana ( cnr-Cyrl, Ада Бојана, ; ) is an island in the Ulcinj, Ulcinj Municipality in Montenegro. The name ''Ada'' means "river island" in Montenegrin language, Montenegrin. The island is created by a river delta of the Buna (Adriat ...

. Relative to other rivers of its length, the Morača is weak in volume. It is rarely more than wide and mostly shallow, so it is generally not navigable. Its canyon is a corridor for the main road leading from the Montenegrin Littoral to Podgorica, and then to northern Montenegro until it reaches

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 ...

. The road is considered impassable on foot. It is one of the symbols, attractions and main notable physical geographical features of Podgorica, as it is the city's principal river. The Morača is also featured on some country symbols and flags. The Morača monastery, which was founded in 1252 by Stefan Vukanović Nemanjić, is located just north of the river's canyon.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moraca Rivers of Montenegro Kolašin Rivers of the Dinaric Alps

See also

References