The Sajó ( , Hungarian) or Slaná ( Slovak) 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 ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, 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 west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

and

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 ...

. Its length is 229 km, of which 110 km is in Slovakia. Its source is in the Stolica Mountains range of the

Slovak Ore Mountains The Slovak Ore Mountains ( , , ) are an extensive mountain range within the Carpathian Mountains, located mostly in Slovakia's Spiš and Gemer region, with a small part in northern Hungary. It is the largest mountain range in Slovakia. Geomorph ...

. It flows through the Slovak town

Rožňava Rožňava (, , Latin: ''Rosnavia'') is a town in Slovakia, approximately by road from Košice in the Košice Region, and has a population of 19,182. The town is an economic and tourist centre of the Gemer. Rožňava is now a popular tourist attr ...

and the Hungarian city

Miskolc Miskolc ( , ; ; Czech language, Czech and ; ; ; ) is a city in northeastern Hungary, known for its heavy industry. With a population of 161,265 as of 1 January 2014, Miskolc is the List of cities and towns in Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, ...

. In Hungary Sajó flows through the county of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén. It flows into the River

Tisza The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa (see below) is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. It was once called "the most Hungarian river" because it used to flow entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national bo ...

near Tiszaújváros. Its main tributaries are the Bodva and the Hornád. It is also known for the

Battle of the Sajó River The Battle of Mohi (11 April 1241) was a pivotal conflict between the Mongol Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary during the Mongol invasion of Europe. The battle took place at Muhi (then Mohi), a town located in present-day Hungary, southwest of t ...

from 11 April

1241 Year 1241 ( MCCXLI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events * March 18 – Battle of Chmielnik ( Mongol invasion of Poland): The Mongols overwhelm the feudal Polish armies of Sandomierz and Kraków provinces ...

between the

Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire was the List of largest empires, largest contiguous empire in human history, history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Euro ...

and the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

Geography

Catchment area of the Sajó river by country: Important hydrological stations along the Sajó river:

Tributaries

Complete list of streams ( slovak '''potok'''; Hungarian patak''') and rivers flowing into the Sajó (from the estuary upwards):

Etymology

The origin of the name is the subject of scholarly discussions. Hungarian linguists and historians suggested the derivation from the Hungarian ''sojó, só folyó'' (salt water, river) already in the 19th century. Newer theories associate the name with ''sió'' referring to fast streams. According to Slovak linguists, the name is pre-Hungarian (''Slaná'': salt river) and most likely not associated with the salinity but with the

salt road A salt road (also known as a salt route, salt way, saltway, or salt trading route) refers to any of the Prehistory, prehistoric and Recorded history, historical trade routes by which essential salt was transported to regions that lacked it. Fro ...

existing already in times of

Great Moravia Great Moravia (; , ''Meghálī Moravía''; ; ; , ), or simply Moravia, was the first major state that was predominantly West Slavic to emerge in the area of Central Europe, possibly including territories which are today part of the Czech Repub ...

. The supporters argue by citing numerous Slavic toponyms in the river basin and by local names related to ''soľ'' (salt) and Moravia like ''Moravce'', ''Soľár'', ''Solišče'', ''Soľka'', ''Soľník'', ''Morava'' (according to this interpretation the Hungarian name is a later translation).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sajo Rivers of Hungary Rivers of Slovakia International rivers of Europe