The Rába (; ; ) 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 southeastern

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and western

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and a right tributary of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

Geography

Its source is in Austria, some kilometres east of

Bruck an der Mur Bruck an der Mur () is a city of some 15,970 people located in the district Bruck-Mürzzuschlag, in the Austrian state of Styria. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Mur and Mürz. Its manufacturing includes metal products and paper. ...

below Heubodenhöhe Hill. It flows through the Austrian states of

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

and

Burgenland Burgenland (; ; ; Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland''; Slovene language, Slovene: ''Gradiščanska''; ) is the easternmost and least populous Bundesland (Austria), state of Austria. It consists of two statutory city (Austria), statut ...

, and the Hungarian counties of Vas and Győr-Moson-Sopron. Of the Rába's length, about 100 km is in Austria. It flows into a tributary of the Danube (Mosoni-Duna) in northwestern Hungary, in the city of

Győr Győr ( , ; ; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia region, and – halfwa ...

. Its basin area is . Towns along the Rába include

Gleisdorf Gleisdorf is a town in the district of Weiz (district), Weiz in the Austrian state of Styria. As of 2023, the town had a population of 11,362. Geography Gleisdorf lies about east of Graz in the valley of the Rába, Raab. There is a train station ...

, Feldbach (both in Austria), and

Szentgotthárd Szentgotthárd () is the westernmost town of Hungary. It is situated on the Rába River near the Austrian border. History The town took its name from, and grew up round, the Cistercian Szentgotthárd Abbey, founded here in 1183. In 1664, it was ...

and

Körmend Körmend ( Prekmurje Slovene: ''Karmadén,'' ) is a town in Vas County, Western Hungary. Places of interest The town is especially well known for its castle which used to belong to the Batthyány family, one of the most important aristocrat famili ...

(in Hungary). In the early

Cenozoic The Cenozoic Era ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterized by the dominance of mammals, insects, birds and angiosperms (flowering plants). It is the latest of three g ...

the river used to flow in the opposite direction, but tectonic uplift reversed this flow.

Name

The Rába was attested as Latin ''Arrabo'' and Greek ''Arabon'' () in antiquity, as ''Raba'' and ''Hrapa'' in AD 791, and as ''ad Rapam'' in 890. The various modern names of the river are derived from the Romance reflex ''Rābo''. The name is probably Indo-European, but its origin is unknown.

Rába Slovenes

The Rába Slovenes, living in the Rába Valley (Sln. ''Porabje,'' Hung. ''Vendvidék''), are the westernmost group of

Hungarian Slovenes Hungarian Slovenes ( Slovene: ''Madžarski Slovenci'', ) are an autochthonous ethnic and linguistic Slovene minority living in Hungary. The largest groups are the Rába Slovenes (, dialectically: ''vogrski Slovenci, bákerski Slovenci, porábsk ...

. The Raba Valley is part of the wider region of

Prekmurje Prekmurje (; Prekmurje Slovene: ''Prèkmürsko'' or ''Prèkmüre''; ) is a geographically, linguistically, culturally, and ethnically defined region of Slovenia, settled by Slovenes and a Hungarians in Slovenia, Hungarian minority, lying betwee ...

References

Rivers of Hungary Rivers of Burgenland Rivers of Styria International rivers of Europe Graz Highlands Rivers of Austria Ramsar sites in Hungary {{Austria-river-stub