The Drina originates from the confluence of the riversTara andPiva, in the glen between the slopes of theMaglić,Hum andPivska Planina mountains, between the villages ofŠćepan Polje, Montenegro andHum, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Its name is derived from theRoman name of the river (Latin:Drinus) which in turn is derived fromGreek (Ancient Greek:Dreinos) which is derived from the native name ofIllyrian origin.[2]
The Drina is a very fast and cold alpine river, with a very high 175:346meandering ratio, and relatively clean water, which has particularly intensive green coloration, a usual characteristic of most alpine rivers running through akarstic andflysch terrain made oflimestone, underlying the area in which the river carved its bed.
Its average depth is 3 to 5 m (9.8 to 16.4 ft), the deepest being 12 m (39 ft) at Tijesno. On average, the Drina is 50–60 m (160–200 ft) wide, but it ranges from only 12–20 m (39–66 ft) at Tijesno to up to 200 m (660 ft) atBajina Bašta andLjubovija.The drainage basin covers 19,570 square km (4.8 million acres), branching into Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, andAlbania. The Drina belongs to theBlack Seadrainage basin.Before it was regulated by several power stations, the Drina used to flood its valley. The most disastrous flood occurred in 1896, which destroyed the town ofLjubovija.
The source of Drina, looking downstream: theTara entering the frame from the right, thePiva from the left, creating the Drina, in the middle of the frame and starts its flow towards a top of the image.
The Drina originates at the point of confluence of the riversTara andPiva, between the slopes of theMaglić,Hum andPivska Planina mountains, and the villages ofŠćepan Polje (in Montenegro) andHum (Bosnia and Herzegovina). At its origin, it flows west, then makes a long curve to the northeast, around theMaluša Mountain. From here it is northbound, in terms of general direction, for the rest of its journey toward theSava. Here, in its headwaters, the Drina receives theSutjeska River from the left.
The Drina is formed by the confluence of theTara and thePiva rivers, both of which flow fromMontenegro and converge on the border ofBosnia and Herzegovina, atHum andŠćepan Polje villages. The total length of the Tara river is 144 km (89 mi), of which 104 km (65 mi) are inMontenegro, while the final 40 km (25 mi) are in Bosnia and Herzegovina along which form the border between the two countries in several places. The Drina flows through Bosnia and Herzegovina northward for 346 km (215 mi), of which 206 km (128 mi) is along the border ofBosnia and Herzegovina andSerbia, and finally spills out into theSava river near Bosanska Rača village in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. Measured from the source of the Tara, its longerheadwater, the Drina is 487 kilometers (303 miles) long.
The river is no longer navigable, but along with the Tara it represents the mainkayaking andrafting attraction in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.However, during history, small boat traffic on the Drina was quite developed. The earliest written sources of the Drina boats date from the early 17th century. Traversing through this area in the second half of the 17th century, Ottoman travellerEvliya Çelebi noted that people in the Drina valley cut 40 m (130 ft) tall oak trees and used their trunks to make boats, by hollowing them with primitive tools and controlled fire. This type of boat is calledmonoxyl or dugout canoe. He wrote that there were thousands of such boats atZvornik, which navigated all the way toBelgrade, downstream the Drina and the Sava. Upstream from Zvornik, the boats did not navigate.[3] Also, Foča has been the cradle of rafting, which was a peculiar side-effect of the development of industrial forestry and increased forest exploitation in the 19th century. Local loggers are known to have transported downed trees downstream, from as far upstream as the Upper Tara river aroundMojkovac in Montenegro, all the way downstream to the mills in Foča, by creating rafts from a number of trunks and riding them navigatingrapids andwhitewater along theTara canyon and Drina. rafts from explanation of local forests in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina since ancient times, known in the second half of the 19th century, when logs of felled forest, exploited by the Austro-Hungarians, were lowered along the Tara and Drina, all the way to the sawmill in Foča.
The Drina flows between the mountains ofZvijezda andSušica and it is flooded by the artificialLake Perućac on the northern slopes of theTara mountain, created by the Bajina Bašta power plant. The villages ofProhići andOsatica (in Bosnia and Herzegovina) are located on the lake, as well as the ruins of the medieval town of Đurđevac. The river is dammed at the village ofPerućac, where a strong well springs out from the Tara mountain, flowing into the Drina as a waterfall. In addition, the waters of Drina are used for severalfish ponds for therainbow trout spawning.
Drina river as the boundary between Serbia (left) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (right)
The river continues to the villages ofPeći,Dobrak,Skelani (in Bosnia and Herzegovina) andZaugline (in Serbia), reaching the town ofBajina Bašta. At the villages of Donja Crvica andRogačica, the Drina makes a large turn, completely changing its direction from the northeast to the northwest. This distinct geographical feature forms theOsat andLudmer regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which are separated by the river from theAzbukovica part of thePodrinje region of Serbia.
Upper Drina canyon near confluence with theSutjeska.Foča with the Drina-Ćehotina confluence, Upper Drina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
From its point of origin, atŠćepan Polje (in Montenegro) and Hum (Bosnia and Herzegovina), the Drina, after initial a couple of hundred meters of running westward around theMaluša mountain, starts its northward general direction flow for the rest of its journey toward theSava. Here it flows through the villages ofKosman, Prijedjel, Dučeli, Čelikovo Polje, Kopilovi,Trbušće,Brod na Drini, until it reach a town ofFoča. In this section the Drina receiving waters of the rivers of Sutjeska, Bjelava and Bistrica, from the left, while in Foča it gets replenished with a significant amount of waters from the Ćehotina, which flows from the right.
Downstream from Foča, the Drina enters a wide valley, the 45 km (28 mi)-long Suhi Dol-Biserovina area between the southernmost slopes of theJahorina mountains from the north and theKovač mountains from the south. The villages of Zlatari, Jošanica, Ustikolina, Cvilin, Zebina Šuma, Osanica, Kolovarice, Vranići, Mravinjac, Biljin,Vitkovići and Zupčići are located in the valley, as well as the town ofGoražde. The river receives the Kolunska Rijeka and the Osanica as tributaries from the left.
The Drina continues in the northern general direction, flowing close to the villages of Žuželo, Odžak, Kopači and Ustiprača, entering the 26 km (16 mi) longMeđeđa gorge, carved between theVučevica mountains from the south and the southern slopes of theDevetak mountains from the north. The narrowest part of the Međeđa gorge is Tijesno, the 8 km (5.0 mi)-long section of the gorge where the river is at its narrowest (only 12 m (39 ft) wide), but also at its deepest (12 m). In this section, it receives the Prača river from the left, and the Janjina and Lim rivers from the right. The villages of Trbosilje,Međeđa and Orahovci are located in the gorge, which is for the most part flooded by the artificialVišegrad lake, created by theVišegrad hydroelectric power plant.
Drina Canyon flooded byPerućac lake.Drina's Perućac lake at Banjska.
At the town ofVišegrad, the Drina receives theRzav River from the right and turns northwest at theSuva Gora mountain into theKlotjevac gorge. The gorge is 38 km (24 mi) long and up to 1 km (3,200 ft) deep, carved between the mountains ofBokšanica (from the west) andZvijezda (from the east). The villages ofSase,Resnik,Đurevići andGornje Štitarevo lie in the gorge and the Kukal river flows into the Drina from the right. At the Slap village, the Drina receives theŽepa river from the right and turns sharply to the west, becoming a border river between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia near the village of Jagoštica.
Flowing on the western slopes of the mountainousAzbukovica, the Drina passes next to the villages of Gvozdac, Okletac, Strmovo, Bačevci, Donje Košlje, Drlače, Vrhpolje, Donja Bukovica (in Serbia), Boljevići, Fakovići, Tegare, Sikirići and Voljevica (in Bosnia and Herzegovina), before it reaches the towns ofLjubovija in Serbia, the centre of the Azbukovica region (or Upper Podrinje from the Serbian side), andBratunac, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the centre of the Ludmer region. Here the Drina receives the right tributary ofLjuboviđa and continues between the mountains ofJagodnja andBoranja (in Serbia), andGlogova (in Bosnia and Herzegovina). After the ruins of the medieval town of Mikuljak and the villages of Mičići, Uzovnica, Crnča, Voljevci (in Serbia), Krasanovići, Dubravice, Polom and Zelinje (in Bosnia and Herzegovina), the Drina is flooded again, this time by the artificialZvornik Lake, created by damming for the exploitation by theZvornik Hydroelectric Power Station. The villages of Amajic, Culine (in Serbia), Sopotnik, Drinjača and Djevanje (in Bosnia and Herzegovina) are located on the lake. This is also where theDrinjača river flows into the Drina (now the Zvornik lake) from the left, flowing from the Bosnian region ofGornji Birač.
After the dual town ofZvornik (Bosnia and Herzegovina)-Mali Zvornik (Serbia), the Drina flows between the Bosnian mountain ofMajevica and the Serbian mountain ofGučevo, and enters the Lower Podrinje region. For the rest of its flow after the village ofKozluk, it has no major settlements on the Bosnian side (except for the town ofJanja, which is several km away from the river, and some smaller settlements, like Branjevo and Glavičice). On the Serbian side, the Drina passes next to the villages of Brasina and Rečane, the ruins of the medieval town ofKoviljkin grad, thespa and town ofBanja Koviljača, the industrial town and center of the Podrinje region,Loznica, and its largest suburb,Lozničko Polje.
The Drina enters the confluence region of its course, the southernPannonian plain, including the Serbian regions ofJadar (where it receives theJadar river) andIverak (where it receives theLešnica). This is where the rivers spills in many arms and flows, creating the largest flood plain in formerYugoslavia, which the river divides in half. The east side,Mačva, is in Serbia, and the west side,Semberija, in Bosnia and Herzegovina (where it receives theJanja river). The Drina spills over and meanders, forming shallows, islands and sandbars, before emptying into the Sava river between the Serbian village ofCrna Bara and the BosnianBosanska Rača. The variability of the water flow and low altitude resulted in several course changes during history. The Drina previously flowed into the Sava river nearŠabac, 30 km (19 mi) to the east of the present mouth.
Drina is major habitat of huchen (hucho hucho), also known as Danube salmon.
The Drina river, together with its source tributaries, the Tara and the Piva river before damming, and most major headwater tributaries such as Bistrica, Čehotina, Lim, Prača, Drinjača, are still Europe's primer habitat and spawning grounds for endangered salmonid fish species,huchen (Latin:Hucho hucho). However, intensivehydropower harnessing, with damming without the construction offish ladder facilities, interrupting the river course, so far in three places (three hydro-electric power plants), separating populations DNA groups from each another and from its prey species, while obstructing movements longitudinally along the river, preventing it from reaching the spawning grounds in upper reaches of the basin.
In the basin of the Drina there are few designated protected areas so far. TheDrina National Park is recently established around the Drina river in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in the summer of 2017 a law designating the protected zone was passed.
In the 21st century, the river has become known for the large accumulation of waste, especially in winter.[4][5]
The Drina is part of therafting route, which includes the Tara river. There are various rafting routes, depending on the length, including 18 kilometres (11 mi) miles long one-day runs from Brstnovica to Sćepan Polje.
TheDrina Regatta is the annual tourist and recreational event,[6][7] organised by S.T.C. "Bajina Bašta" and the municipality ofBajina Bašta since 1994.[8] The regatta is the most visited event in WesternSerbia, and central summer event on the water in the region.
TheŠargan Eight is a narrow-gauge heritage railway in Serbia, running from the village of Mokra Gora to Šargan Vitasi station, with an extension to Višegrad in Bosnia and Herzegovina, finished on 28 August 2010. The route includes the transfer of passengers to a boating tour along the Perućac lake.
The Drina originates at an altitude of 432 meters (1,417 feet) and flows into the Sava at 75 meters (246 feet). The large inclination is not constant because of many gorges and bends, but still more than enough to generate an estimated 6 billion kilowatt-hours of potential electrical power.
Also, the discharge steadily grows: 125 cubic metres per second (4,400 cu.ft./s) at the Ćehotina's mouth, and 370 cubic metres per second (13,000 cu.ft./s) on the Drina's mouth into the Sava.However, power capacity is not fully used since only three hydro electrical power stations (HE) have been constructed so far:HE Zvornik,HE Bajina Bašta, andHE Višegrad.
As a result of the inhospitable terrain and the lack of good railways and major roads, the surrounding territory is sparsely populated. Apart from many small villages, the major settlements on or near the river are:
The Drina is crossed by several bridges: at Višegrad,Skelani, Bratunac and Zvornik (in Bosnia and Herzegovina), and Loznica and Badovinci in Serbia. The most recent bridge is the one at Badovinci, thePavlovića ćuprija.
The 2012–2015 archaeological survey at the Orlovine locality, right above the river near Mali Zvornik, showed that the visible remains (stone ramparts) are part of the much larger Byzantine city. The spacious settlement, larger than modern Mali Zvornik, originates from the period of emperorJustinian I. It had large administrative center and was bishop's seat. Younger levels are dated to the rule ofČaslav of Serbia. Ramparts extended to the Drina itself. Discovered artefacts include amphorae, mosaics, glass objects, water cisterns, parts of arched gates, guard towers, and one of the largest Byzantine churches in Serbia, 30 by 60 m (98 by 197 ft), with luxuriouscathedra. Works on the find continued into the 2020s.[9][10]
In the northern section of Mali Zvornik, the underground shelter for the KingAlexander I Karađorđević was dug into the rocky hill above the river in the 1930s. Envisioned as the war headquarters of the king and government, the construction began in 1931, but it was halted after the king was assassinated on 9 October 1934. Under the code name "Kamena devojka" ("Stone girl"), it was designed by the unnamed Russian engineer, and dug by the inmates who were transported blindfolded to the location. Underground fort spreads over 5,000 square metres (54,000 sq ft), with corridors reaching a total of 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi). The "underground city" has 75 rooms, 12 exits with heavy metallic doors, kings suite, cabinet, halls, guardsmen dormitories, water spring, water well, three drinking fountains, and chapel dedicated to theSaint Andrew the First-Called. There is a constant temperature of 14 to 16 °C (57 to 61 °F). The entire complex was designed for 5,000 people. It was used only once, on the 9/10 April 1941, when the KingPeter II Karađorđević presided over the session when it was decided that government will go into the exile. In the 21st century, the two thirds of the complex were renovated and adapted into the museum.[9]
In September 2011, after local floods, an ancient boat was discovered, buried under the gravel in the Drina river, nearJelav, some 10 km (6.2 mi) north ofLoznica. It is the first one in the Drina valley which was discovered in one piece and in such a good shape. The boat is 7.1 m (23 ft) long, 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in) wide and with the circumference of the back section of 4 m (13 ft). When dug out, it weighed 2 tons, but after drying out for two years in natural conditions, it was reduced to 1.3 tons. After being dried, it went through the conservation process in 2013. As the local museum in Loznica had no space to exhibit such a big item, a special annexe was built especially for the monoxyl. It is estimated that it was made between 1740 and 1760 from the trunk of anoak that was 230 to 300 years old when cut. Based on the marks on it, this particular boat was most likely used for the transportation of thebulk cargo from one side of the river to another, as it seems to be too massive to be operated by theoars. Cuts and marks on it indicate that it was probably pulled over the river by the horses. It is possible that later when it went out of service, it was used as the foundation of a watermill.[3]
DuringWorld War I, from September 8 to September 16, 1914, the Drina was the battlefield for battles between the Serbian andAustro-Hungarian army, theBattle of Cer and Battle of Drina. The Austro-Hungarians engaged in a significant offensive over the Drina river at the western Serbian border, resulting in numerous skirmishes and battles.
In its lower, meandering course, the Drina is referred to as thekriva Drina ("bent Drina"). This has enteredSerbian as a phrase used when someone wants to resolve an unsolvable situation; it is said that he or she wants to "straighten the bent Drina".
DuringWorld War I, from September 8 to September 16, 1914, the Drina was the battlefield of bloody battles between the Serbian andAustro-Hungarian army, theBattle of Cer andBattle of Drina. In honour of the former battle, the Serbian composerStanislav Binički (1872–1942) composed the 'March on the Drina', and in 1964 a movie of the same title was shot by directorŽika Mitrović. The movie was later banned for a period of time by theCommunist government, because of its portrayal of a true-to-life, bloody battle, and its use of Binički's march (banned at that time) as part of the soundtrack. The Slovenian bandLaibach did a cover version of the 'March on the Drina' titled "Marš on the River Drina" in their albumNATO, released in 1994 during theYugoslav Wars.
Outside of Bosnia and Serbia, the rivers play a role in some nationalist circles within Bulgaria. The song by the Bulgarian bandZhendema under the title "Разговор с дядо" (A conversation with grandfather) encapsulates the ambitions of Bulgarian veterans of theGreat War that Bulgaria would stretch from the Drina river in the west all the way to theBlack Sea in the east, encompassing all ethnic-Bulgarians in one nation.[12]
^abIvana Jelić (25 January 2022)."Kad se kralj spremao za život u podzemlju" [Wen king prepared for underground life].Politika (in Serbian). p. 16.Archived from the original on 28 January 2022. Retrieved28 January 2022.
^"Arheološki lokalitet "Orlovine"" [Archaeological locality "Orlovine"].Turistička organizacija Mali Zvornik (in Serbian). 2021.Archived from the original on 2022-01-28. Retrieved2022-01-28.
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