Budapest 4

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Budapest 4

The DANUBE and the BRIDGES

Liberty Bridge	Liberty Bridge	Elizabeth Bridge
Chain Bridge	Chain Bridge	Chain Bridge
Chain Bridge	Chain Bridge	Chain Bridge

Budapest 4

The DANUBE

Danube (ancient, Danubius, and in the lower part of its course, Ister; German, Donau; Slovak, Dunaj; Hungarian, Duna; Serbo-Croat and Bulgarian, Dunav; Romanian, Dunarea; Ukrainian, Dunay), river in Europe, second-longest and one of the principal traffic arteries on the Continent. The Danube is the only major Continental European river to flow from west to east. It rises in the Black Forest region of Germany and flows in a generally easterly direction for a distance of about 2,850 km (1,776 mi), emptying, on the Romanian coast, into the Black Sea.

Course and Physical Environment

The delta of the Danube is a region of desolate marshes and swamps, broken by tree-covered elevations, and is an important nature reserve. The Danube is navigable by ocean vessels to Braila, Romania, and by river craft as far as Ulm in Germany, a distance of some 2,575 km (1,600 mi). About 60 of the approximately 300 tributaries of the Danube are navigable. The principal ones, in the order in which they merge with the Danube, include the Lech, Isar, Inn, Morava, Váh, Rába (Raab), Drava, Tisza, Sava, Siret, and Prut.

The Danube basin, more than 777,000 sq km (300,000 sq mi) in area, includes parts of Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia (part of the federation of Serbia and Montenegro), Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Ukraine. Important cities on the river include Ulm, Regensburg, and Passau, in Germany; Linz and Vienna, in Austria; Bratislava, in Slovakia; Budapest, in Hungary; Belgrade, in Serbia; and Galati and Braila, in Romania. Canals link the Danube to the Main, Rhine, and Oder rivers. The Danube Valley between Linz and Vienna, Austria, is noted for its beautiful scenery.