Orava (river) explained

Orava
Name Other:Hungarian: Árva, de|German|Arwa, Polish: Orawa
Subdivision Type1:Country
Subdivision Name1:Slovakia
Length:62km (39miles)
Discharge1 Location:mouth
Discharge1 Min:2.3m3/s
Discharge1 Avg:34.5m3/s
Discharge1 Max:1120m3/s
Source1:Orava reservoir, taking water from White Orava in Slovakia and from Black Orava in Poland
Source1 Location:Orava, Slovakia
Source1 Coordinates:49.3833°N 52°W
Source1 Elevation:601m (1,972feet)
Mouth:Váh river
Mouth Location:Kraľovany
Mouth Coordinates:49.15°N 28°W
Mouth Elevation:430.7m (1,413.1feet)
Basin Size:1991.8km2

The Orava (Hungarian: Árva) is a river in north-western Slovakia passing through a picturesque country, in the Orava county. Its source is nowadays the Orava water reservoir whose waters flooded the confluence of Biela (White) Orava and Čierna (Black) Orava in 1953. It flows into the river Váh near the village of Kraľovany. It is 62km (39miles) long and its basin size is 1192km2.[1]

Etymology

The name "Orava" may be of Pre-Slavic or Slavic origin. Pre-Slavic *er-/*or-: fast, swift (swift river).[2] [3] Proto-Slavic *or-, *orati: to scream, to roar. Slovak rivers Revúca and Hučava have the same etymology (a roaring river). The similar names from other Slavic countries are e.g. the Croatian river Orljava (1234 Orauua), the Ukrainian river and the village Oriava or Orzawiec (in the river system of Dnieper).[4] The suffix -ava could be derived from Germanic -ahwa (water), but it is typical also for older Slovak hydronyms.[5]

The earliest records are fl. Arua (1287) and Oravia (1314).[2]

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.vuvh.sk/RSV2/download/PMPR/Vah/Plan.pdf Plán manažmentu povodňového rizikavčiastkovom povodí Váhu
  2. Book: Milan . Majtán . Kazimierz . Rymut . Kazimierz Rymut . Hydronymia povodia Oravy . Hydronyms of the Orava River Basin . 89–90 . VEDA, vydavateľstvo Slovenskej akadémie vied . Bratislava . 2006 . 80-224-0906-5 . Slovak.
  3. Jaromír . Krško . Praslovanské apelatíva ako motivanty hydroným povodia Váhu . Old Slavonic Appellatives as Motivating Words for Hydronyms of the Váh River Basin . 18 . Slavica Slovaca . Vydavateľstvo Matice Slovenskej . 1 . 2009 . Slovak.
  4. Book: Varsik, Branislav . Slovanské (slovenské) názvy riek na Slovensku a ich prevzatie Maďarmi v 10.-12. storočí. Bratislava. 34. Slovenská akadémia vied . 1990 . Slovak. 80-224-0163-3.
  5. Závodný . Andrej . Distribúcia sufixu -ava v slovenskej hydronýmii . Distribution of the suffix -ava in the Slovak hydronymy . Logos Onomastiky . Donetsk National University . 2 . 2008 . Slovak.