| Dunajec | |
| Mouth Location: | Vistula |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 50.2431°N 20.7283°W |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | Slovakia, Poland |
| Length: | 249km (155miles) |
| Discharge1 Avg: | 85.5m3/s |
| Basin Size: | 6796km2 |
The Dunajec (pronounced as /pl/; Goral dialects: Dónajec; pronounced as /sk/) is a river running through northeastern Slovakia and southern Poland. It is also regarded as the main river of the Goral Lands. It is a right tributary of the Vistula River. It begins in Nowy Targ at the junction of two short mountain rivers, Czarny Dunajec and Biały Dunajec (Black and White Dunajec). Dunajec forms the border between Poland and Slovakia for in the Pieniny Środkowe (Slovak: Centrálne Pieniny) range, east of the Czorsztyn reservoir.
The Dunajec is long, including its source river Czarny Dunajec,[1] which makes it Poland's thirteenth longest river. It has a basin area of (4838km2 in Poland, and 1958km2 in Slovakia).[1] On the Slovak-Polish border, the Dunajec flows through the Zamagurie region, with attractions such as the Dunajec River Gorge, the Trzy Korony massif with a 500m (1,600feet) precipice, Červený Kláštor, and two Pieniny castles in Czorsztyn and Niedzica.
Below the two source streams, the Dunajec flows through a broad valley called Nowotarska Basin. It then supplies the waters of the dam in Niedzica (Jezioro Czorsztyńskie Lake) and the dam in Sromowce Wyżne (Sromowce Wyżne reservoir). Flowing through the central part of the Pieniny range, it creates a picturesque turn at the Polish Slovak border between Sromowce Wyżne and Szczawnica, where it flows by Kotuńka rock which differentiates the area from the over parts of the river. Further down, it turns to the north into the Western Beskid Mountains, and Sądecka Basin (where it merges with its own largest tributary, the Poprad river). It flows across an open valley of the Beskid Foothills and falls down across Rożnów Foothills (with two more dams: the Jezioro Rożnowskie Lake, and Jezioro Czchowskie Lake) and finally, it leads into the Sandomierz Basin and the valley of Vistula Lowlands. The Dunajec flows into the Vistula River in the vicinity of Opatowiec.
The Dunajec flows through or near these locations in Poland and north Slovakia:
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