Vistula
Vistula is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Coordinates
- 52.38°, 20.07°
About Vistula
The Vistula (; Polish: Wisła [ˈviswa] ; German: Weichsel [ˈvaɪksl̩] ) is the longest river in Poland and the longest river draining into the Baltic Sea, at 1,047 kilometres (651 miles) in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers 193,960 km2 (74,890 sq mi), of which 168,868 km2 (65,200 sq mi) is in Poland.
The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in the south of Poland, 1,220 meters (4,000 ft) above sea level in the Silesian Beskids (western part of Carpathian Mountains), where it begins with the White Little Vistula (Biała Wisełka) and the Black Little Vistula (Czarna Wisełka). It flows through Poland's largest cities, including Kraków, Sandomierz, Warsaw, Płock, Włocławek, Toruń, Bydgoszcz, Świecie, Grudziądz, Tczew and Gdańsk. It empties into the Vistula Lagoon (Zalew Wiślany) or directly into the Gdańsk Bay of the Baltic Sea with a delta of six main branches (Leniwka, Przekop, Śmiała Wisła, Martwa Wisła, Nogat and Szkarpawa).
The river has many associations with Polish culture, history and national identity.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Vistula (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Vistula in Depth
Geography
The Vistula can be divided into three parts: upper, from its sources to Sandomierz; central, from Sandomierz to the confluences with the Narew river and the Bug river; and bottom, from the confluence with Narew to the sea.
The Vistula river basin covers 194,424 square kilometres (75,068 square miles) (in Poland 168,700 square kilometres (65,135 square miles)); its average altitude is 270 metres (886 feet) above sea level. In addition, the majority of its river basin (55%) is 100 to 200 m above sea level; over 3⁄4 of the river basin ranges from 100 to 300 metres (328 to 984 feet) in altitude. The highest point of the river basin is at 2,655 metres (8,711 feet) (Gerlach Peak in the Tatra Mountains).
Geological history
The history of the River Vistula and its valley spans over 2 million years. The river is connected to the geological period called the Quaternary, in which distinct cooling of the climate took place. In the last million years, an ice sheet entered the area of Poland eight times, bringing along with it changes of reaches of the river. In warmer periods, when the ice sheet retreated, the Vistula deepened and widened its valley. The river took its present shape within the last 14,000 years, after the complete recession of the Scandinavian ice sheet from the area. At present, along with the Vistula valley, erosion of the banks and collecting of new deposits are still occurring.
As the principal river of Poland, the Vistula is also in the centre of Europe.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Vistula (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Vistula: Key Facts
| Length | 1,047 km |
|---|---|
| Average discharge | 1,080 m³/s |
| Drainage basin | 194,500 km² |
| Source | Barania Góra |
| Mouth | Gdańsk Bay |
| Drainage system | Vistula basin |
| Tributaries | Nida, Zgłowiączka, Opatówka, San, Wisłoka, Sanna, Łęg, Świder |
Facts from Wikidata Q548 (CC0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Vistula: Quick Answers
- Where is Vistula?
- Vistula is located in Poland, at 52.3779° N, 20.0715° E.
- Are there dams on the Vistula?
- No dam on the Vistula is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.