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List of rivers of the Czech Republic

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Map of the 50 longest rivers of the Czech Republic

This is a list of rivers of the Czech Republic.

Naming conventions

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Czech language distinguishes between large (river; in Czech řeka) and small (stream, creek, brook; in Czech potok) watercourses. River names are mostly self-standing one-word nouns. Stream names often consist of two words because they contain an adjective (usually stemming from physical properties (e.g. Černý potok – "black stream"), usage (e.g. Mlýnský potok – "mill stream") or derived from the location through which it flows (e.g. Rakovnický potok – "Rakovník stream"). These two-word names form an inseparable whole.

Main rivers

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While the Elbe is the longest Czech-related river when measured through its overall length (i.e. including its lower course in Germany), its tributary the Vltava surpasses it as the longest river within the territory of the Czech Republic itself. (In fact the Vltava also carries more water than the Elbe at their confluence.)

Rank River Length
within the CR
(km)		 Avg.
discharge[a]
(m³/s)		 Total
basin
(km2)		 Tributary
to		 Mouth
location
1 Vltava 430[b] 151 28,090 Elbe Mělník
2 Elbe 370[c] 308 144,055 North Sea Cuxhaven (Germany)
3 Morava 284[d] 65[e] 26,658 Danube Bratislava (Slovakia)
4 Ohře 256[f] 38 5,606 Elbe Litoměřice
5 Berounka (+Mže) 242[g] 36 8,854 Vltava Prague
6 Sázava 225 25 4,350 Vltava Davle
7 Thaya 196[h] 44 13,419 Morava Lanžhot
8 Jihlava 181 12 2,997 Svratka Ivaň
9 Svratka 174 15[i] 7,119 Thaya Pouzdřany
10 Jizera 167 24 2,193 Elbe Lázně Toušeň
11 Lužnice 158[j] 24 4,235 Vltava Hosty
12 Oder 136[k] 48 118,861 Baltic Sea Świnoujście (Poland)
13 Otava (+Vydra) 135 26 3,827 Vltava Zvíkovské Podhradí
14 Orlice (+Divoká Orlice) 129[l] 22 2,036 Elbe Hradec Králové
15 Opava (+Černá Opava) 129 18 2,089 Oder Ostrava
16 Bečva (+Vsetínská Bečva) 120 18 1,626 Morava Troubky
17 Radbuza 110 11 2,182 Berounka Plzeň
18 Chrudimka 106 6 866 Elbe Pardubice
19 Úhlava 104 6 908 Radbuza Plzeň
20 Želivka (+Hejlovka) 104 4 1,188 Sázava Soutice
21 Tichá Orlice 102 7 756 Orlice Žďár nad Orlicí
22 Střela 102 3 922 Berounka Liblín
23 Ploučnice 101 8 1,188 Elbe Děčín
24 Oslava 101 3 867 Jihlava Ivančice
25 Moravice 101 8 900 Opava Opava

Hierarchical list

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This is a hierarchical list that includes all rivers and other streams whose length within the territory of the Czech Republic is at least 20 kilometres.

Explanatory notes
  • The municipality in whose territory the confluence occurs is indicated in brackets.
  • Rivers over 100 km long or having average discharge greater than 10 m³/s are emphasized in bold.
  • Watercourses not located themselves within the Czech Republic but possessing tributaries originating on the Czech territory are shown in strikethrough italics.

Rivers flowing to the North Sea (Elbe basin)

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Scheme of principal tributaries and their contribution to average discharge of the Elbe (in m³/s)

Rivers flowing to the Baltic Sea (Oder basin)

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Drainage basin of the Oder, which includes the northeast and some northern portions of Czech territory
tributaries joining the Oder during its course through Poland (mainly from the Western Sudetes and Central Sudetes regions)
tributaries joining the Oder within the Czech Republic

Rivers flowing to the Black Sea (Danube basin)

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Drainage basin of the Danube with Morava, Svratka and Thaya shown in the southeast of the country

Alphabetical list

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This is an alphabetical list that includes all rivers whose total length is at least 50 kilometres and have at least a small part in the Czech Republic. The Czech name is given in brackets in italics for rivers, the greater part of which is outside the territory of the country.

Drainage basins

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Catchment areas of the Elbe–Vltava system (dark grey) and the Morava–Thaya (light grey) before they leave the Czech Republic. The remaining white areas in the northeast and north belong to the Oder and its tributaries while narrow white strip along southwestern border denotes some smaller direct tributaries of the Danube.

As the main European watershed passes through the Czech Republic, there are three directions and principal areas of drainage (very roughly overlapping with historical territories of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia):

Almost 2/3 of the country is drained in NW direction through the Elbe into the North Sea. The Morava flowing towards SE collects water from eastern regions of the Czech Republic and discharges into Danube which flows to the Black Sea. The northeast and some northern portions of the territory is drained by the Oder and its tributaries like the Lusatian Neisse into the Baltic Sea. The corresponding watershed tripoint with a marker for symbolic "roof of Europe" (50°9'27"N 16°47'27"E) is located at Czech-Polish border on Mt. Klepáč near Dolní Morava in Králický Sněžník Mountains.

The catchment area of the Elbe down to Czech-German border in Hřensko/Schöna covers 51,394 square kilometres (19,843 sq mi). This figure includes upper courses of some tributaries starting in neighbouring countries. The area solely within Czech borders is slightly smaller and this is the figure given in the following table, which shows Czech territory divided after drainage basins.

River level 1 level 2 level 3
Elbe 49,933[m]
Vltava 27,006.7[n]
Ohře 4,601.1[o]
Danube 21,736[p]
Morava 20,692.4[q]
Thaya 11,164.7[r]
Oder 7,217
total (km2) 78,886

Notes

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  1. ^ at mouth (if within the Czech Republic) or at national border
  2. ^ Total length of the Vltava and Elbe courses combined within Czech territory is 530 km.
  3. ^ Total length of the Elbe (including the territory of Germany) is 1165 km.
  4. ^ Total length of the Morava (including the territory of Slovakia and Austria) is 353 km.
  5. ^ before the confluence with the Thaya
  6. ^ Total length of the Ohře (including the territory of Germany) is 305 km.
  7. ^ Total length of the Berounka (including the territory of Germany) is 245 km.
  8. ^ Total length of the Thaya (including the territory of Austria and Deutsche Thaya) is 311 km.
  9. ^ before confluence with the Jihlava
  10. ^ Total length of the Lužnice (including the territory of Austria) is 198 km.
  11. ^ Total length of the Oder (including the territory of Poland and Germany) is 861 km.
  12. ^ Total length of the Orlice (including the territory of Poland) is 132 km.
  13. ^ 144,055 km² including part of basin extending to Germany, Austria and Poland
  14. ^ 28,090 km² including part of basin extending to Germany and Austria
  15. ^ 5,614 km² including part of basin extending to Germany
  16. ^ the remaining area of the Czech Republic after subtracting of Elbe and Oder drainage basins
  17. ^ 26,658 km² including part of basin extending to Austria and Slovakia
  18. ^ 13,419 km² including part of basin extending to Austria
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