DANUBE RIVER: SOURCE, ROUTE, MOUTH, CHARACTERISTICS - GEOGRAPHY - 2025

The Danube is a river located in central and southeastern Europe that runs through a total of 19 countries, 10 of them directly, extending through cities and valleys by supplying more than 300 tributaries. It is the second largest river on the continent and is characterized by being a natural resource surrounded by immense cultural diversity.

It has a memorable history that testifies as a delimiter of the borders between various empires of the world; and its waters are a medium for trade between different nations. At present it is one of the main sources of drinking water for the regions it covers.

The Danube basin has a drainage area of ​​817 thousand km2. Photo: Abdeaitali

It forms the basis of impressive natural settings, such as the Iron Gates located between the borders of Romania and Serbia. In terms of infrastructure, many castles considered architectural jewels line its banks, elements that make it a wonder of nature.

Birth

It is born from the meeting point between the currents of the German rivers Breg and Brigach, but its beginning is officially considered in a spring located in the Donaueschingen mountains in southwestern Germany, in the territory of the Black Forest.

Its true birth has always been a point of discussion and controversy, although it is officially attributed to the German people since the time of the Roman Empire and was formalized in 1981 with the establishment of the spring by the German government, where they built a small blue pool framed in iron, adorned with statues alluding to the greatness of the river.

Route and mouth

The waters of the Danube have a length of 2,860 kilometers flowing towards the southwest of Europe, starting from Germany and passing through Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine, These countries are the main ones that it crosses among a total of 19 that make up its basin.

It empties into the Black Sea, boosted by its delta located in Romania and part of Ukraine, a natural area full of wetlands and immense and lush alluvial plains.

Among the capitals it runs through are Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna and Belgrade. It also passes through the countries Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland, Italy, Albania, Macedonia and Switzerland, although to a lesser extent than those mentioned above, covering in these locations areas less than 2000 km ².

The territorial classification can be divided into four: the high region, the middle region, the low region and the delta.

High region

It spans from its source in Donaueschingen, Germany, to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, draining waters from the tributaries of the Czech Republic and Austria.

Middle region

It begins in Bratislava and extends over a flat area to the waters of the Iron Gates, on the border between Romania and Serbia. This region is larger than the upper and lower parts of the Danube.

Low region

It travels the lowlands of Bulgaria and Romania, crossing mountains and plateaus mainly in an easterly direction. Here its stream is smoother and wider compared to other of its areas.

Danube Delta

It is considered the largest and best preserved river area in Europe. It is located between Dobrogea and Odesa, in Romania and Ukraine respectively. It is a river delta of approximately 3,500 km ².

In 1991, Unesco granted it the title of Cultural Heritage of Humanity, classifying it as a Biosphere Reserve due to its ecological characteristics that allow it to host a wide range of species, many of them in danger of extinction.

characteristics

Beška bridge over the Danube river. Gmihail at Serbian Wikipedia

The Danube is the second largest river in Europe, only surpassed in size by the Volga; and the largest if the territory covered by the European Union is considered exclusively.

The basin has a drainage area of ​​817 thousand km ², accounting for an average discharge of 7 thousand cubic meters per second. Approximately 300 tributaries are supplied from its waters, more than 50 of them suitable for navigation.

The navigable points are located by the currents of the Black Sea that cross Europe to Romania in transoceanic; and by river boats much further up, to the port of Ulm in Germany.

The most international river

Few rivers have such an important territorial scope that it extends through different countries. Such is the case of the Danube, which given its multicultural nature, has different names according to the countries that comprise it. It is known as Donau in Germany, Dunaj in Slovakia, Duna in Hungary, Dunav in Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria, Dunărea in Romania and Dunay in Ukraine.

It has undergone major structural modifications, such as the construction of dams, canals and dikes, among other hydraulic buildings that serve industrial, governmental and agricultural tasks.

Comercial activity

Barge on Danube River

Historically, it has served as a standard for the economic growth of regions such as Austria, Serbia and Hungary, in which its natural benefits have been used to generate hydroelectric energy and supply drinking water to a large amount of the territory, a figure close to 20 million persons.

River vessels make up one of the main commercial activities through the waters of the Danube River, transporting a large amount of raw material for the maintenance and commercial development of the mining, chemical, oil, steel and heavy machinery transport industries.

Regarding agriculture and fishing, its important source of drinking water supplies both the population of different countries and industries, representing an important economic resource for sustainability.

tourism

Cargana Bridge in Vienna. Natalia Semenova

Among the main tourist attractions on the Danube is Hungary's Gemenc Forest, renowned for its diverse fauna. Also Wachau, a valley named World Heritage Site by UNESCO located between the Austrian cities of Melk and Krems, full of architectural wonders.

Germany's Donau-Auen National Park is made up of a large floodplain that extends into Austria and is another natural wonder related to the Danube; as well as the Srebarna Nature Reserve of Bulgaria and the Iron Gates on the border between Serbia and Romania, the 135 km long natural gorge that limits the south of the North Carpathians with the Balkan mountain range.

In addition, one of the great tourist attractions of the Danube is to travel it in its navigable river section by boat rides or cruises, one of the most popular and famous recreational activities of the river that takes place especially in Vienna and Budapest.

To enjoy it outdoors, it has the Danube Bike Trail, made up of four sections along the river: Donaueschingen-Passau, Passau-Vienna, Vienna-Budapest and Budapest-Black Sea, which covers its entire extension, from where it was born (Donaueschingen, Germany) to where it empties (Black Sea).

Pollution in the Danube River

Plastic waste, garbage and industrial waste have fixed the characteristic blue of the Danube River. A study published in the journal Enviromental pollution in 2014 affirms that even the waters had more levels of pollution and concentration of waste than quantity of fish, after having analyzed the currents between Vienna and Bratislava for two continuous years.

The article concluded that the river transports approximately 1,500 tons of garbage a year to its mouth in the Black Sea, pollution that refers, among other causes, to the large number of plastic production and processing plants that operate within a few kilometers away from the waters of the Danube, causing a vertiginous increase in the amount of waste.

From cities like Vienna, in Austria, awareness campaigns are constantly disseminated to communities to promote the values ​​of conservation of the river.

Emphasis is placed on the reduction or even complete eradication of the use of plastic bags and the importance of the civic culture of recycling garbage and waste correctly, in order to protect this natural resource through environmental education.

And it is that the influence of the people in the river is massive: a figure close to 80 million people are in the perimeter that somehow influences the life of the river. Furthermore, bad policies in the use of fertilizers in the field of agriculture have left their negative mark on the pollution of the Danube waters.

Main tributaries

Since its source in the Black Forest, the Danube has had two main tributaries in Germany: the Breg and Brigach rivers, which begin to supply the flow of its waters.

Its volume increases with the tributary of the Inn River, which starts from the flows of Switzerland and then advances towards Germany and finally flows into the territory of the Danube at the height of the border between Germany and Austria.

Next, it is supplied from the waters of the Drava River in northern Italy in connection with Austria, Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary. The tour continues with the currents of the Tisza River, which originates in Ukraine and crosses countries such as Romania, Serbia, Montenegro and Hungary, covering 965 km before joining the Danube.

From the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina it feeds on the Tisza River, passing through Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Romania and Hungary in a distance of 933 km. It is then joined by the waters of the Morava River, coming from the north of the Czech Republic, attracting currents from Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Austria, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia and Macedonia until it flows into the Danube.

Therefore, the main tributaries of the Danube are the rivers Lech, Naab, Isar, Inn, Traun, Enns, Morava, Raba, Vah, Hron, Ipel, Sio, Drava, Tisza, Sava, Timok, Jiul, Iskar, Olt, Yantra, Arges, Ialomita, Siret and Prut.

Flora

The flora of the Danube is highly diverse, mainly in the delta and sinkhole areas, with unique ecosystems of exclusive floodplains and wetlands that rank its areas among the most important in Europe.

Between reeds and reed beds, it has a vegetation full of forests with narrow-leaved ash trees, oaks, elms, poplars, white willows, reeds, alders and rushes characteristic of the area, as well as floating plants with leaves and flowers found in the area. water lily, yellow-flowered lily, aquatic pita, water chestnut and water bolt, among many others.

The constant discharges of the river have also caused the birth of life in different dimensions around the banks that run through the waters, registering more than 2,000 species of higher plants (vascular and flowers).

The alluvial plains form forests as a result of the floods that are home to a great diversity of plants resistant to river overflows, causing the birth of habitats that are also ideal for the sustainable life of birds.

Fauna

More than 5,000 species of animals, including 100 types of fish, 180 species of birds, 40 types of mammals and dozens of classes of reptiles and amphibians make up the extensive and varied fauna of the Danube in all its areas.

Many of these species are in danger of extinction, such as the white-tailed eagle, the white pelicans, the hucho hucho (Danube salmon), five kinds of sturgeon fish and the beavers, which inhabit the middle and upper part of the river.

Also the European kingfisher or malachite bird and the European terrapin tortoise species, all in an emergency conservation plan to regain the continuity of their species in the present and future.

The great diversity of fish includes the European pike, goby, Iberian barbel, European mudfish, ballerus sapa, alburnus mento, gymnocephalus baloni, alosa immaculata, barbus balcanicus, barbus petenyi, romanogobio antipai, zingel streber, zingel zingel, umbra krameri and vimba elongata, among many others.

The brown bear, the red fox and the wasp spider are other species of mammals and insects frequently found in the Danube, making a perfect match with its amazing landscapes.

But when it comes to talking about diversity in fauna, without a doubt, the birds take center stage. From the different areas of the river you can see types such as galerida cristata or common cogujada, European water blackbird, red-headed shrike, mallard, cinnamon jar and Caspian gull.

Also ashen crow, white-faced smoker, great cormorant, white swan, squacco heron, purple heron, gray heron, cinnamon jar, golden eagles, nightingales, seagulls, cranes, hawks, mandarin ducks, sacred ibis, terns and even black swans.

References

1. The Danube is no longer blue, an article in the Spanish newspaper ABC, published online on May 6, 2014.
2. Danube River Report, published on the official website of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), taken from icpdr.org.
3. Danube Regional Project report, taken from undp-drp.org.
4. Mölder, Andreas and Schneider, Erika. (2010). “On the beautiful diverse Danube: Danubian floodplain forest vegetation and flora under the influence of river eutrophication. River Research and Applications ”.
5. Giosan, Liviu, Stefan Constantinescu, Florin Filip, and Bing Deng. (2013). “Maintenance of Large Deltas through Channelization: Nature vs. Humans in the Danube Delta ”.