Tisza River | |
Hungarian: Tisza Romanian: Tisa Rusyn: Тиса Ukrainian: Тиса Slovak: Tisa Serbian: Тиса, Tisa |
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River | |
Countries | Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia |
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Tributaries | |
- left | Someş, Criș, Mureș |
- right | Bodrog |
Towns | Sighetu Marmației, Khust, Szolnok, Szeged, Bečej |
Source | |
- location | Eastern Carpathians, Ukraine |
- elevation | 2,020 m (6,627 ft) |
Mouth | Danube |
- location | Downstream of Novi Sad, Serbia |
- coordinates | 45°8′17″N 20°16′39″E / 45.13806°N 20.27750°ECoordinates: 45°8′17″N 20°16′39″E / 45.13806°N 20.27750°E |
Length | 965 km (600 mi) |
Basin | 156,087 km2 (60,266 sq mi) |
Discharge | mouth |
- average | 820 m3/s (28,958 cu ft/s) |
Progression | Danube→ Black Sea |
Map of the Tisza and southern part of the Danube
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The Tisza or Tisa is one of the main rivers of Central Europe. Once, it was called "the most Hungarian river" because it flowed entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national borders.
The Tisza begins near Rakhiv in Ukraine, at the confluence of the White Tisa and Black Tisa (the former springs in the Chornohora mountains; the latter in the Gorgany range). From there, the Tisza flows west, roughly following Ukraine's borders with Romania, then Hungary, and finally Serbia. It enters Hungary at Tiszabecs. It traverses Hungary from north to south. A few kilometers south of the Hungarian city of Szeged, it enters Serbia. Finally, it joins the Danube near the village of Novi Slankamen in Vojvodina, Serbia.
The Tisza drains an area of about 156,087 km2 (60,266 sq mi) and has a length of 965 km (600 mi)—the largest catchment and greatest length of any of the Danube's tributaries. Its mean annual discharge is 792 m3/s (28,000 cu ft/s). It contributes about 13% of the Danube's total runoff.
Attila the Hun is said to have been buried under a diverted section of the river Tisza.
The river was known as the Tisia in antiquity; other ancient names for it included Tissus (in Latin) and Pathissus (Πάθισσος in Ancient Greek), (Pliny, Naturalis historia, 4.25). It may be referred to as the Theiss in older English references, after the German name for the river, Theiß. It is known as the Tibisco in Italian, and in older French references (as for instance in relation to the naval battles on the Danube between the Ottoman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the 17th and 18th centuries) it is often referred to as the Tibisque.