MORAVA RIVER

Serbo-Croatian Velika Morava river in Serbia, Yugoslavia, formed by the confluence of the South (Juzna) Morava and West (Zapadna) Morava rivers. It follows a 137-mile (221-kilometre) course, mainly northerly, to enter the Danube River near Smederevo. North of Lapovo the Morava opens into the wide, meandering Pomoravlje valley, a fertile agricultural region. The total area of the Morava River basin is 14,457 square miles (37,444 square km), corresponding almost to the political definition of Serbia. The West Morava originates in southern Serbia and Macedonia on the west-facing slope of Golija Mountain. Three hydroelectric stations are located along its 185-mile (298-kilometre) course. The South Morava is 198 miles (319 km) long from its source at the union of the Binacka Morava and Moravica rivers. Lake Vlasina on the Vlasina, a tributary, provides water for four hydroelectric stations. The Niava, another tributary, rises in western Bulgaria; its valley provides an important transportation route from Belgrade via Sofia to Turkey. The Morava and the South Morava together are a vital part of the Morava-Vardar (Axis) corridor, a main road and rail route in Yugoslavia. German March, tributary of the Danube rising in eastern Czech Republic; in its lower course, the river divides the Czech Republic from Slovakia and then Slovakia from Austria. It gives its name to Moravia, an ancient region that covers most of the river's drainage basin, which is 15,000 square miles (38,900 square km) in area. Its western tributaries drain from the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands; the eastern tributaries, of which the Becva is the most significant, drain from the westernmost ranges of the Carpathians. The Morava River rises on the southern slope of Krlick Sneznk in the Nzk and Hrub Jesenk mountains and follows a 227-mile (365-kilometre) course south to enter the Danube River just above Bratislava, Slovakia. The river valley has been important historically as one of Europe's natural corridors. A low pass in the north between the Becva and Oder riversthe Moravian Gateconnects the Danube countries with the Silesian Plain and the Central Plain of Poland.