Danube

Danube (ancient Danubius, and in the lower part of its course, Ister; German Donau; Slovak Dunaj; Hungarian Duna; Serbo-Croatian and Bulgarian Dunav; Romanian Dunãrea; Ukrainian Dunay), second longest river in Europe, and one of the principal transportation arteries on the continent. It is the only major 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 2850 km (1770 mi), emptying, on the Romanian coast, into the Black Sea. The delta of the Danube is a region of desolate marshes and swamps, broken by tree-covered elevations. The Danube is navigable by ocean vessels to Brãila, Romania, and by river craft as far as Ulm in Germany, a distance of 2,600 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, Raab (Rába), Drava (Drau), Tisza, Sava, Siret, and Prut. The Danube basin, more than 777,000 sq km (more than 300,000 sq mi) in area, includes parts of Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (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, Slovakia; Budapest, Hungary; Belgrade, Serbia; and Galaþi and Brãila, in Romania. Canals link the Danube to the Main, Rhine, and Odra (Oder) rivers, providing a commercial route between the Black and North seas. The Danube Valley between Linz and Vienna, Austria, is noted for its beautiful scenery.
Several countries have built dams and hydroelectric power plants on the Danube. In the early 1970s the Iron Gate hydroelectric project was completed as a joint effort between the governments of Romania and the former Yugoslavia. Located at the Iron Gate gorge on the border of Roman