The Olšava is a

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 ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, a left

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''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 into which they ...

of the Morava River. It flows through the

Zlín Region Zlín Region () is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the south-eastern part of the historical region of Moravia. It is named after its capital Zlín. Together with the Olomouc Region it forms a cohesion area of Central M ...

. It is long.

Etymology

The origin of the name is unclear. If the name is of Slavic origin, it is most likely derived from the Czech word ''olše'' (i.e. '

alder Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...

'), meaning "river flowing between alders". However, the name may be of pre-Slavic origin. The oldest written document of the river is from 1078, when the name was written as ''Olsaua''.

Characteristic

The Olšava originates in the territory of Šanov in the

White Carpathians The White Carpathians (; ; ) are a mountain range on the border of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, part of the Carpathians. They are part of the macroregion of Slovak-Moravian Carpathians, stretching from the Váh river and the Little Carpat ...

mountain range at an elevation of and flows to Kunovice, where it enters the Morava River at an elevation of . It is long. 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, ...

has an area of . The average discharge at its mouth is . The longest tributaries of the Olšava are:

Course

The river flows through the municipal territories of Šanov, Pitín,

Bojkovice Bojkovice () is a town in Uherské Hradiště District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 4,400 inhabitants. Administrative division Bojkovice consists of four municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 cen ...

, Záhorovice, Nezdenice, Šumice,

Uherský Brod Uherský Brod (; ) is a town in Uherské Hradiště District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Administrati ...

, Drslavice, Hradčovice, Veletiny, Popovice, Podolí,

Uherské Hradiště Uherské Hradiště (; ) is a town in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 25,000 inhabitants. The agglomeration with the two neighbouring towns of Staré Město (Uherské Hradiště District), Staré Město and Kunovice has over ...

and Kunovice.

Bodies of water

There are 123 bodies of water in the basin area. The largest of them is Luhačovice Reservoir with an area of , built on the Luhačovický potok. There are no reservoirs or fishponds built directly on the Olšava.

Nature

The upper course of the river flows through the Bílé Karpaty Protected Landscape Area. An unregulated section of the river between Podolí and Uherské Hradiště, together with its immediate surroundings, is protected as the Olšava Nature Monument. It is a zoologically significant site with an area of . Several species of birds endangered within the Czech Republic live here, such as the

common kingfisher The common kingfisher (''Alcedo atthis''), also known as the Eurasian kingfisher and river kingfisher, is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North Africa. It is resident in much of ...

Eurasian penduline tit The Eurasian penduline tit or European penduline tit (''Remiz pendulinus'') is a passerine bird of the genus ''Remiz''. It is relatively widespread throughout the western Palearctic. It is migratory in the northern part of its range but resident ...

marsh warbler The marsh warbler (''Acrocephalus palustris'') is an Old World warbler currently classified in the family Acrocephalidae. It breeds in temperate Europe and the western Palearctic and winters mainly in southeast Africa. It is notable for incorpor ...

and

sedge warbler The sedge warbler (''Acrocephalus schoenobaenus'') is an Old World warbler in the genus ''Acrocephalus (bird), Acrocephalus''. It is a medium-sized warbler with a brown, streaked back and wings and a distinct pale supercilium. Sedge warblers are ...

References

External links

River flow at Uherský Brod station
– Flood Warning and Forecasting Service of the

Czech Hydrometeorological Institute The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI; ) is the central state office of the Czech Republic in the fields of air quality, meteorology, climatology and hydrology. It is an organization established by the Ministry of the Environment of the Cz ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olsava Rivers of the Zlín Region Rivers of the Czech Republic